AN E.50TLRIC 
READING O 
BIBLICAL 



HARRIET TUTTLE. BARTLLT 





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CQEXRIGHT DEPOSffi 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF 
BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF 
BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



BY 



HARRIET TUTTLE BARTLETT 




SAN FRANCISCO 

PHILOPOLIS PRESS 
1916 



3S.534- 
.33 



COPYRIGHT 1916 

BY 

HARRIET TUTTLE BARTLETT 



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AUG 23 1 91.6 




3)CI.A437730 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page 

Foreword 1 

Introduction 3 

Plate 7 

Explanation of Plate 8 

CHAPTER I. Keynote of the Bible 11 

CHAPTER II. Mysteries 15 

CHAPTER III. Metaphysical Ideas of the Ancient 

Hebrews 29 

CHAPTER IV. The Story of Creation .... 38 
CHAPTER V. Significance of the Genealogy of 

Shem and the Work of Abraham 

and Lot 46 

CHAPTER VI. Noah and the Flood 53 

CHAPTER VII. The Significance of the Two Coven- 
ants of Abraham 62 

CHAPTER VIII. Moses 67 

CHAPTER IX. Reincarnation in the Bible ... 77 
CHAPTER X. Can Jesus Be Identified In Other 

Lives? 82 

CHAPTER XI. Are These Some Incarnations of 

Our Blessed Christ ? 92 

CHAPTER XII. The Visions of Ezekiel .... 139 
CHAPTER XIII. Jehovah Commanded no Bloody 

Sacrifices 151 

CHAPTER XIV. Light Thrown on Obscure Passages 157 

Glossary of Symbols and Obsolete Words 161 



FOREWORD. 

I send this little book out into the world as an humble tribute 
to the cause of truth, with heartfelt gratitude to the Master Jesus 
for the patient guidance and illuminations that have been given 
me during the years that I have been pondering over the pages 
of the Scriptures of the Aryan race, realizing fully that I have 
sensed but a very small part of the wonders that lie hidden 
beneath the wonderful symbolic utterances of that marvelous 
Mystic Book, but full of joy that I have found enough to reveal 
to me something of the wondrous beauty of God's plan for the 
evolution of man. 

Mistakes, there are many, no doubt, that better scholarship, or 
greater spiritual perceptions may reveal, as time goes on, but I 
have tried to give it exactly as it was presented to my mind, and 
what mistakes there are, are the result of undeveloped faculties 
trying to grasp ideas too great for them to comprehend. These 
facts, however, came to me with such illuminative force, that I 
cannot but hope that they may prove equally helpful to others 
who are struggling in the bonds of mistaken conceptions of what 
the Bible really teaches. 

We' are standing upon but the threshold of the Temple of 
Truth, and can but glimpse the glories lying within, but each 
step we take forward brings us nearer to the vision celestial; and 
no effort made with the right motive will be lost. "Knowing this 
first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of special interpretation. 
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but man spake 
from God being moved by the Holy Spirit." II Peter, i, 20 and 21. 
Here we are justified in searching out the hidden inner meaning, 
as, indeed, we are in many passages that refer to the "Mysteries 
of Jesus." 

Occultists tell us that all Scripture has seven different mean- 
ings intended to assist man at each of the seven different planes 
of his evolution, and this seems to be true. At each step that we 

1 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

take, we find that the tale told is just what we most need to direct 
us along the path. To the writer they have ever spoken in no 
uncertain tone. 

These illuminations have brought to me such unspeakable joy, 
and peace, such conviction and strength of inspiration, that to 
those at the same stage of progress I feel sure that they must of 
necessity come as a blessing. To those farther along upon the path, 
they will perhaps seem crude, while to those not so far advanced 
they may in some cases be unintelligible. They are sent out to those 
who need them, to those to whom they appeal. May the Master 
bless them as they start upon their long journey to hunt the 
hearts that need them; may they in some small way, help to make 
straight the way of the Great Master Christ, when He again 
comes to this sin-sick old world; and may they help, at least a 
few earnest souls to gain the token by which they may know Him 
when He appears. 

Harriet Tuttle Bartlett. 



INTRODUCTION. 

It may be well to explain in a few words, something of the 
method by which these conclusions have been arrived at. 

The Bible read in the literal way that is customary with the 
purely orthodox, fails to stand the test of historic and scientific 
research, because of the erroneous assumptions of the translators, 
who were misled by lack of the information that is now coming 
in such abundance to us. It is gratifying to see that the recent 
translators have discarded the foolish chronology which has caused 
so much trouble, and while it is somewhat disconcerting to think 
of the many reckonings that are thrown into confusion as to time 
by this step, yet it was positively necessary to understand things 
as they are. 

Scientific investigation has done much in giving us data upon 
which to calculate, in a general way, but to Oriental research, 
especially through philological lines, do we owe much of the 
information that is proving a golden key by which we may unlock 
the storehouses of ancient wisdom that throw light upon the 
obscure portions of our Sacred Book. To state it briefly, these 
investigations have brought out the fact that the most ancient 
Sacred MSS. gave out the same great fundamental truths upon 
which our own religion is based. Many great natural laws are 
explained and about the same ethical standard is upheld as we 
have been accustomed to connect with the teachings of our own 
faith; the difference being, if any, rather in favor of the superi- 
ority of the standard upheld by the ancients as being attainable. 
"Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in heaven is per- 
fect" was to them an attainable ideal, while to us it seems a 
monstrous assumption. 

As we study, we see that the weakness in our own system lies 
in the fact that the Christian Mysteries have been temporarily 
lost, due to the political aspirations of the church from the fourth 
century, but abundant evidence exists that they were a part of 

3 



AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

the Apostolic Church, and that the early Church Fathers owed 
their unusual spiritual strength to the influence of this special 
training. 

We find there are certain symbols that are universal, to which 
the hidden truths have been confided during the ages, and that 
these symbols tell the same tale, no matter where they may be 
found, no matter what the language of the people may be. Then 
we look and find these same symbols telling the same story in our 
own Bible. The Hebrew language lent itself with unusual felicity 
to the veiled work of the Mysteries, as it was a purely consonantal 
language, each letter having a numerical value, and each number 
having an esoteric significance. It is not surprising that the 
message has remained hidden under the circumstances. It was 
perfectly safe until the time was ripe for its disclosure. Evidently 
the Master's will controlled the situation. Not until man's intui- 
tion develops will the secrets of the ages be revealed to him. 

The translation of the personal nouns and geographical names, 
often gives the key to an allegory, but, in this line of work, one is 
often hindered by the fact that the meaning of the word has 
been lost in the course of the ages. By taking the root, however, 
tracing it back as nearly as possible to its mother tongue, one may 
often get a meaning that clearly dovetails with the obvious mean- 
ing of the text in such a way as to justify the inference that the 
right one has been found, or at least something very near to it. 

In studying the allegorical meaning of the Bible the writer 
finds that it is wise to stick to the spiritual meaning consistently 
all the way through, not read one passage allegorically and the 
next literally which causes the garbled result so often obtained 
by Biblical scholars. 

This line of study, however, demonstrates that the lower mind 
alone cannot give satisfactory results. To the intuition must we 
turn if the higher truths are to become ours. For that reason 
Scripture should always be studied in a prayerful spirit. Per- 
sonally, the writer has always called directly upon the Master 
Jesus for guidance, and all that has been given at such times, 
when the flash of illumination has been accompanied by a sense 
of "The Presence" has withstood the test of the most careful 
investigation that she has been able to make from information 
available. The first glimpse has not always been complete, and 

4 



INTRODUCTION 

additional information given later has made the matter clearer, 
but she has never yet been obliged to admit one of these glimpses 
of truth to be erroneous; invariably they have proven true, 
though perhaps in a much larger way than was at first perceived. 
Gradually she has learned that in the consciousness of at-one-ment 
of Spirit it is but necessary to touch the hem of His Spiritual 
garments, or His Spiritual vibrations, that virtue may flow from 
Him. He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any 
man open the door I will come in unto him, and will sup with him, 
and he with Me." 

"Remember that everyone who meditates upon the Master 
makes a definite link with him which shows to clairvoyant vision 
as a kind of line of light. The Master always subconsciously 
feels the impinging of such a line, and sends out along it in 
response a steady stream of magnetism which continues to play 
long after the meditation is over. The regular practice of such 
meditation and concentration is of the utmost help to the aspirant, 
and the regularity is one of the most important factors in pro- 
ducing results." Vol. I, "Inner Life," by C. W. Leadbeater, 
page 34. 

This experience is one that has often been found in Christian 
Mystics, it has not originated with the writer, but the influx of 
Oriental Information has rendered what has been received much 
more intelligible than it would otherwise have been. 

The writer makes no pretense of being able to read the akasic 
records, and in some instances may have taken what was meant 
for merely a type for a real incarnation of a Great One, but such 
matters will be straightened out by more expert investigators, and 
need not detract from the value of the truths revealed. Errors 
there must be, of course, in a work bringing out ideas so new to 
the mind trained in the orthodox school, and dealing with things 
so far transcending what that mind is accustomed to handling; 
but to the spiritually minded these pages may open up an un- 
explored mine of riches, and they may get far more than the 
writer has, having better trained inner perceptions that will need 
but the hint to make them able to penetrate to the Inner Sanctuary, 
To the materialistic mind there will be nothing to appeal in this 
book. Spiritual truths may be apprehended by Spirit alone. 

The writer has found that of necessity there must be more 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

repetitions in a work like this, than is considered permissible in 
good composition. The newness of the ideas makes it necessary to 
connect the mind with what has gone before to make each stage 
clear. So far as possible she has tried to avoid this. However, she 
realizes that there are still far too many such cases to suit good 
taste but can see no way to avoid it if the points are made clear 
without too great a demand upon the reader 's memory. 



INVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION OF THE SPIRIT OF MAN. 




Black Land 
Cush- Egypt 
Wilderness 
Great Battle Of 



Cain 

Abel J Mssl 
Moses 345J 
Spirit and Matter 



HARRIET TUTTLEBARTLETT 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE. 

The Great V shows Spirit descending into matter until it 
becomes immeshed in bodies of each of the planes, then it turns 
its face toward the Father again, and by conquering the planes 
one by one mounts on its way back to the Father from whom 
it came. 

The horizontal lines divide the planes but simply for the sake 
of clearness in study. The matter really interpenetrates and the 
matter of all planes is to be found in any given spot at any time. 
These planes simply refer to matter in different degrees of density. 

On the highest plane we have the Three Great Outpourings of 
the Solar Logos (God) as they are directed toward the seven 
planes directly concerning us. There are still higher and higher 
Great Ones, but the Bible does not dwell upon that except to 
recognize the Hierarchies in a general way. 

Yod, I, is a masculine potency and is the Will aspect of the 
Logos. 

H, Hevah, translated Eve, is the Love Wisdom aspect of the 
creative form producing power of the Universe, spoken of by the 
Christian as the "Son. " 

V H, We He, is the great creative activity of the Logos spoken 
of by the Christian as the Holy Spirit. This outpouring brought 
into being the perfected atom of each plane making possible the 
form producing work. 

The seven Sephiroth are the seven attributes of God, or the 
seven great creative Agents of the Logos manifesting those 
attributes. The seven Planetary Logoi. 

The Archetypal Man lies upon the Buddhic or Christ Plane 
and the evolving man rises to that plane when he conquers matter 
and becomes the Master of Compassion. 

On this Buddhic Plane the descending Ego lay till provided 
with a body by Lord Jehovah, who gave him a mental body. 

8 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE 

The symbolism makes the Mental Plane the Dust Land, and 
Adam was given a body of dust, so he is the Dust Adam of H. P. B. 

On the Astral, or Emotional and Desire Plane, the Sand Land 
of the allegory, we find H. P. B.'s "Shadow Adam." Matter has 
become so dense that it hampers the Spirit and its vibration begin 
to control. "The Woman" (body) "Thou gavest me she did it." 

The Physical Plane is the Black Land, the Land of Cush, 
Egypt, the Wilderness of Ignorance. Here is fought the great 
battle of Spirit and matter. At last the day comes when the Spirit 
turns its face toward the Father who sent it out, and then begins to 
mount by conquering each plane. 

Moses is symbol of the perfected Physical as well as the great 
Manu of the fifth root race. His number is 345, the number of 
God's back. 

543 is the number of God's face. 

543 plus 345 makes 888, the number of the Christ. Perfect 
Man and perfect God make the Christ Man. 

The Soul or Causal Body is built by man's efforts to get back 
to God, and can be lost, but the Spirit must return to God who 
sent it out. 

I H T, the symbol of Jesus, may be read God the Father and 
God the Son working on the Desire Plane. 318, his number, 
means purity. 

M S S, symbol of Moses, may be read Matter with double 
amount of Wisdom. 

Maia means Matter or Mother. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE KEY NOTE OF THE BIBLE. 

What is the key note of the Bible? Is it possible to find a key 
note in these sixty-five books that we call our Bible ? These books 
supposed to be written by all sorts and conditions of men, during 
many different periods in the world's history, written by men who, 
in many instances, could have no way of knowing anything about 
their predecessors, nor could they have foreseen the destiny of 
their work, unless they were unusually gifted seers; can it be 
possible that there is a unifying chord running through such a 
tangled mass of strings, as many have considered these stories to 
be? To the writer there is a chord that sounds clear and true 
from cover to cover of the "Dear Old Book." If summed up in 
one word, perhaps no word can be used, that will so aptly convey 
the idea, as the simple word "Christ," if by the word Christ we 
mean man made God. 

In the first chapter of Genesis we see the perfect thought 
form of Elohim manifesting. They are the architypes, or patterns, 
of the seven great kingdoms of nature, as they will ultimately 
become in the long course of evolution. 

In the second chapter, beginning with the fourth verse, we 
see the Lord Jehovah beginning his work of starting the great 
evolutionary march by which these kingdoms are to gain per- 
fection, which is the destiny shown to be theirs upon the higher 
planes. The egos of humanity have already advanced up to the 
human stage upon another chain of planets, and are now lying 
upon the Buddhic Plane ready for their start upon this earth. 
Lord Jehovah forms for them bodies of mental matter, and 
breathes into them the breath of life and they become "Living 
Souls," not Physical bodies. By desire they bring themselves 
down upon the Astral Plane, and the Lord Jehovah gives them 
an astral body to help them manifest there. Then as they gratify 

11 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

desire they drop into Physical bodies that are waiting for them, 
having evolved up from the lower kingdoms. Lord Jehovah then 
wraps about them the skins of animals, or their own physical 
skins. All is in the plural, and is the story of the descent of 
Spirit into matter in order to manifest. 

In the experiences of the Hebrews, we see the typical stages 
by which man must mount on his way back to the God from whom 
he came. In their struggles against the bondage of Egypt 
(bondage of the lower nature) through the wilderness of ignor- 
ance, they slowly learn the law by experience, and from the 
teachings of the great Moses (Lord Jehovah) they learn that the 
gratification of the desires brings only disgust. At the same 
time they develop intellect, and at last they find themselves upon 
the bank of the Jordan or the descending flood of their own 
degenerative tendencies. Here it is that Moses lays his hands 
upon the shoulders of Joshua (Jesus) and that compassionate 
brother takes charge of the race to teach them that by purification 
alone can they attain the higher planes of consciousness that it 
is their destiny to reach. Jesus seems to be used as a type of 
the Masters, many of whom are shown as remaining with us and 
sharing in this great work for humanity. Here and there sporadic 
instances occur, where we see one of the people transcending the 
natural development of the race, and to these we see the great 
Initiations given, and the Initiate at once enters the work of 
helping the Great Ones in their effort to teach and assist humanity. 
In fact the whole of the book that we call Bible is the story of 
the typical stages in the life of humanity, not anywhere is 
personality accentuated. 'Tis all the story of you and of me, in 
the day that we attain the place that these experiences naturally 
develop. It is the story of the fall of spirit into matter, and its 
struggle to get back to God. The story of your life and my life, 
just as truly as it is the story of the lives of the Great Ones 
who preceded us upon the path. 

All of the stories are in a sense historical, but when they 
happened is not at present revealed to us. They are used to 
convey a spiritual truth that is greater than any mere historic 
occurrence could possibly be. The Great Initiations of the 
Great Ones who have been the guides of humanity during the 
ages, are clearly shown, and the trials and victories by which 

12 



THE KEY NOTE OF THE BIBLE 

they attained their present height. We are given the view of the 
Great Brother, whom the Jews called Lord Jehovah, guiding the 
race upon the physical plane; Joshua (Jesus) and the other 
Masters with Him, teaching them to purify themselves, and the 
Great Christ teaching them how to attain the "Glory I had with 
the Father before the world was." How to become the perfect, 
the God-Man. 

The four letters IHVH translated Jehovah indicating the 
Trinity of manifestations of the Supreme is used in three senses 
in the Old Testament. El Jehovah, El Shadai (God Almighty) 
refers to the higher Trinity; while the Lord Jehovah refers to 
the great loving brother whom the Hindoo calls the Manu; and 
the "Jehovah of Hosts," or the "Lord God of Hosts," refers to 
the God in the heart of every man. "The light that lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world" (John i). This latter 
is what we have been taught to call the Soul, but this is inaccurate, 
for the Soul is the body of the Spirit, and this inner Jehovah is 
the Spirit, making of ourselves the body, Soul, and Spirit, of 
St. Paul. This "Jehovah of Hosts," or "Lord God of Hosts," 
the God in the heart, is the one that is always so rebelliously 
chiding the race in the places that have been erroneously trans- 
lated "cursed." This is the God who is jealous. He wants to 
rule instead of the personality. This is the struggle of the Spirit 
with flesh, and its cry ever is, ' ' The Soul that sinneth it shall die. ' ' 
It is our higher selves struggling with our lower selves, to reduce 
the personality to obedience to Spirit. No curse from the "ALL 
WISE," no curse from the Great Loving Elder Brother "Lord 
Jehovah," only our higher selves chiding our lower selves because 
we do not please ourselves. 

So there is One God. "In Him we live, and move, and have 
our being." There are three Great Elder Brothers (who are 
types of many others who have attained now), Lord Jehovah, 
Jesus, and Christ, and we too are the sons of the Living God 
making the completed Trinity. Thus does "Jehovah of Hosts" 
of the Old Testament become the "Christ in the heart" in the 
New Testament, or the new dispensation, when the race shall 
have attained the divine destiny so gloriously shown us by our 
Great Elder Brother, the first born among many brethren to 
attain the Goal, "Our Bright and Morning Star." 

13 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Surely Christ is the key note of the Bible. Not Christ the 
Jewish man only, whom we all love to honor and whom we all 
know to be the great teacher of Gods and of Men, but the Great 
Universal Christ, Humanity, that great Son of God who shall 
return from the far country, and be to the Father a Son worthy 
to reign with Him, when He shall have attained to "the fullness 
of the stature of the Christ." May the magnitude of the con- 
ception fill the minds and hearts of all who read, and may they 
strive to emulate Him who stands with hands outspread in bless- 
ing as His glorified body is revealed to John in Revelations. 



14 



THE MYSTERIES 



CHAPTER II. 

THE MYSTERIES. 

To the average reader the thought of the Mysteries has been 
associated with some kind of a heathen religion that nourished 
in ancient days. Not many have taken time even to read the 
article in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica", much less to study 
the subject at length. This is largely because western ideas have 
been unduly distorted by lack of accurate information in regard 
to Oriental manners, customs, history, and ideals. [We have 
occupied the unique position of accepting for our spiritual guid- 
ance a purely oriental book, full of the quaint imagery and 
beautiful figures of speech of a very poetic people, but have 
utterly scorned all things else Oriental, absolutely refusing to 
recognize the inhabitants of those countries as really civilized, 
dubbing them heathen, and assuming an air of great superiority 
over them."/ We have taken their book but have utterly ignored 
their ideas as to how it should be read, and have persisted in 
reading all those exquisite figures of speech as literal historic 
facts. Truly it is a strong argument for the inspiration of the 
book, that we have not gotten into more trouble than we have. 
Being inspired, however, and intended to guide man at every 
stage of his development, it has given us nourishing food for our 
spiritual natures in spite of all of our clumsy attempts to distort 
the real meaning of the passages. 

The natural result of such a course of action, however, has been 
to cut us off from much information that might have been ours. 
It has closed Oriental libraries against our scholars, and has hin- 
dered their getting the instruction needed to study intelligently 
the great truths they found; it has prevented their penetrating to 
the secret archives of the wisdom of the east, through causing 
them to scorn the necessary preparation; and it has given to the 
traveler the patronizing air which has been resented, and from 

15 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

which he has, all unconsciously, suffered, not getting the infor- 
mation that otherwise would have been handed him gladly. In 
all these and many other ways have we suffered, simply because 
of our own intolerance and conceit. 

Such intolerance has no justification today in the light of the 
flood of information that is now coming to our country, in regard 
to such matters. ' To hold to the old conservative ideas that have 
been so long regarded orthodox, one must close both eyes and 
ears, and utterly refuse the evidence of the senses. It would be 
a foolish waste of space and time for the writer to quote the long 
list of authorities that she has studied during the last thirty 
years, that have each contributed something to the light that has 
been shed upon her studies, but to get much information in little 
space I know of no more satisfactory works than those of Mrs. 
Annie Besant, and her co-worker Mr. C. L. Leadbeater, Mr. A. P. 
Sinnett, and Mr. Gr. R. S. Mead. These books bring a large amount 
of information into small readable volumes that are very con- 
venient for the busy person. 

However, from the article in the " Encyclopa&dia Britannica" 
upon Mysteries may be gleaned many suggestive facts. Of neces- 
sity it deals almost exclusively with the Greek Eleusinian Semi- 
Mysteries, in the days of their degeneration; still, in spite of this 
fact, many little testimonies of the original excellence of the 
teachings of the ancient mysteries crop out here and there, as, 
for instance, "The saving and healthy effect of the Eleusinian 
Mysteries are believed in not only by the mass of the people but 
by many of the most thoughtful and educated intellects, Pindar, 
Sophocles, Isocrates, Plutarch, etc. Plato, who finds no language 
too strong to stigmatize the demoralizing effect of the Orphic 
Mysteries (then degenerate echoes of a once pure teaching), 
speaks of the Eleusinian Mysteries with great respect. He com- 
pares the contemplation of 'ideas' by disembodied souls to the 
contemplation of the 'phasmata' revealed in the Mysteries. This 
saving power is expressly connected with future life; he that has 
been initiated has learned what will ensure his happiness here- 
after. The words of Pindar, Sophocles, Isocrates agree with the 
words of the Homeric Hymn, that the initiated have peculiar 
advantages in the future world, and many other passages are 
equally clear and distinct." "These quotations prove a general 

16 



THE MYSTERIES 

belief that the aim of the Eleusinian Mysteries was high, and 
that a lasting effect was produced upon the initiated by them. 
This implies a high stage of religious thought such as no other 
ancient faith, except that of the Hebrews, attained; but a passage 
in a Rhodian inscription of the fifth century B. C. shows that 
this idea was not wholly unfamiliar in the Greek religion. The 
first and most important condition required of those who entered 
the Temple at Lindus is, that they be pure in heart, and not con- 
scious of any crime; conditions of ceremonial purity are enumer- 
ated as those of secondary importance." — E. B., pg. 127, Vol. M. 

We must remember that the things written as to the ritual 
of the Mysteries are only such things as were given out to the 
public, not the true Mysteries, for the greater Mysteries have 
never been written, but are matters of the extension of the con- 
sciousness of the individual. The lessons learned bear fruit in the 
life lived, but are not transmitted by writing. The teaching has 
ever been secret, and is transmitted from mouth to ear. As Moses 
taught Joshua the "spoken law" he received upon the Mount, who 
in turn taught it to the forty receivers, who were to instruct the 
initiates orally; so was it in every age, so is it now, so must it 
ever be, if the child man is to be protected from the danger that 
comes from defiling things that are holy before he is able to under- 
stand the significance of his acts. 

Philo Judaeus, in speaking of the Essenes says: "But the 
Therapeutic sect of mankind, being continually taught to see 
without interruption" (they functioned upon higher planes), 
"may well aim at obtaining a sight of the living God, and may 
pass by the sun" (the symbol of divinity), "which is visible to 
the outward sense, and never leave this order which conducts to 
perfect happiness. But they apply themselves to this kind of 
worship not because they are influenced to do so by custom, nor 
by advice or recommendation of any particular persons, but be- 
cause they are carried away by a certain Heavenly Love." Then 
he goes on at length to show how they gave away their earthly 
possessions, caring nothing for anything that will interfere with 
the teaching they get in these communities where they have a 
plain room, no luxuries, and live most abstemiously. 

He goes on to say: "And in every house there is a sacred 
shrine which is called the Holy Place, and the Monastery in which 

17 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

they retire by themselves and perform all the mysteries of a holy 
life." 

"Therefore they always retain an imperishable recollection of 
God, so that, not even in their dreams, is any other subject pre- 
sented to their eyes except the beauty of divine virtues, and 
divine powers. They also have writings of ancient men, who 
having been founders of one sect or another, have left behind 
them many memorials of an allegorical system of writing and 
explanations whom they take as a kind of model, and imitate the 
general fashion of their sect, so that they do not occupy them- 
selves solely with contemplation." 

Women also belonged to these orders, living by themselves 
and never mingling with the men, but getting the same teachings 
by assembling on the other side of a high wall where they could 
hear the voice of the speaker without being seen by men. We can 
but outline the idea in a work of this kind, and it is unnecessary 
to reprint what is already put out in better shape than the writer 
could hope to be able to do it, by Mrs. Annie Besant in her 
"Esoteric Christianity." No student of the Bible, no matter 
what his denomination may be, can afford to do without that 
book. 

The general method of the ancient religions seems to have 
been to provide a simple ritualistic service for public use, such as 
would gradually train man to live a moral life, and develop 
public and private virtues, much as the Catholic Church handles 
her people today. After that, when the more serious minded 
advanced to the place where they desired more exalted knowledge 
they were given what was called the "lesser mystery" teaching, 
some systems call it the "probationary path." After this came 
the great "Initiations" that were given only to those who had 
attained the proper strength and purity of character to pass the 
tests. To gain the great Initiations was the aspiration of the 
aBsthetic and the mystic of all ages, and to assist man to attain 
the degree of holiness necessary religious homes and communities 
of all sorts sprang up in every part of the civilized world. While 
the methods of attaining seem to have varied somewhat in the 
different religions, the ideal seems to have been the same in all. 
The object of the discipline was ever to develop the God in man, 
to subordinate the flesh to the dominion of the Spirit. There 

18 



THE MYSTERIES 

seems ever to have been two distinct theories as to the best way 
to accomplish this; one school taught that only by a perfect 
knowledge of the law, and by developing a strong will that 
enabled its possessor to conquer all things, at the last coming 
into the understanding that only through love can the Buddhic 
Plane be conquered; and the other extreme taught by the other 
schools that only by love and devotion and ecstatic communion 
with God from the first can the victory be won. Methods of train- 
ing differed according to the ideas of the hierophant in charge of 
the school. 

In all of the ancient religions do we find these ideas, even in 
their most degenerate stages, although in many cases, now, it is 
simply a matter of words that have long ago lost their spiritual 
meaning. The farther back we go, however, the clearer do these 
teachings stand forth. In the ancient Egyptian religion the 
Mysteries for ages were most revered. Are we not told that 
Moses was "learned in all the learning of the Egyptians," as 
though no higher compliment could be paid him? Plato and 
Pythagoras, as well as many other of the most notable ancients- 
have left testimonials as to the virtue of the teachings, having, iu 
many cases taken some of the initiations. In India we find them 
a recognized part of the ancient Brahmanical, and also of the 
Buddhic faiths; in Persia they formed a part of the worship of 
Mithras; there were the mysteries of Samothrace, the Sythian, 
the Chaldean, the Orphic and Bacchuic Mysteries; and later on 
the Semi-Mysteries of Greece called the Eleusinian Mysteries; 
the Delphic, the Phrygian, and many others, including the Mys- 
teries of the Hebrews instituted by Moses; and the "Mysteries 
of Jesus" taught to the disciples by the Master, often referred 
to in the New Testament, which were a well-established part of 
the Apostolic Church, if we may trust the allusions of the early 
church fathers. 

It is interesting to note that the Phrygians, whose Mystery 
work was most execrated by the orthodox Jew in the day of 
Christ, were among the very first to recognize in Jesus the 
Great Master, and that before the first century had elapsed after 
His death, the nation as a whole had accepted Him as the 
Messiah. The story is told that in one of their largest cities, 
early in the second century, not a grown person could be found 

19 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

who was not a professing Christian; so their Mysteries must have 
prepared them for the truth. 

Into the most of these religions in their exoteric ritualism, the 
most shocking abuses crept during the course of the ages, but 
these abuses show the degenerative tendency of the crystalizing 
process through which all religions pass, sooner or later, when 
confined to their exoteric ritual. On page 88 of his "Christian 
Creed" Mr. C. W. Leadbeater says: "Never under any circum- 
stances are phallicism and indecency a part of the original con- 
ception of a great religion, and the modern theory, that all 
symbols had primarily some obscene meaning in the minds of the 
savages who invented them, and that, as in the course of ages, 
a nation evolved to a higher level, it became ashamed of these 
cruder ideas and invented far-fetched spiritual interpretations to 
veil their immodesty, is exactly the reverse of the truth. The 
great spiritual truth always came first, and it is only after long 
years, when that has been forgotten, that a degenerate race en- 
deavors to attach a grosser signification to its symbols." Few 
are so well qualified to testify upon this point, as he has the 
ability to read the Akasic records, we are told. 

When the Mystery teaching was lost to a religion, because of 
lack of qualified pupils, then invariably the grosser expression 
of man's nature dominated, even as it is doing in our own religion 
today, to some extent. 

Let us take a hasty glance at the teachings of the Mysteries, 
so far as they have been given out, for of course, the real secret 
part of the work is still secret. All that we can obtain is the 
object to be attained by the methods, not the methods themselves. 
As explained before, the exoteric Church was expected to produce 
a thoroughly good man, then, when the realization came to him 
that nothing is worth while save the service of God and humanity, 
then was he fit to enter upon the probationary path, or what is 
called by some the lesser Mysteries, where he put himself through 
a strict discipline to gain control of the mind, of the senses, and 
of the will, to develop discrimination, indifference to reward, 
tolerance, endurance, absence of resentment under unjust treat- 
ment, courage to meet the trials of life patiently, and confidence 
in his Master and in himself. Along with this he was taught 
something of the history of the Cosmos and the great laws con- 

20 



THE MYSTERIES 

trolling nature. He was shown how Spirit descended into matter, 
evolving through the lower kingdoms, elemental, mineral, plant, 
animal, up to the human form, ever pushed by the life of the 
God within the form, until as a human he receives the baptism, 
that makes of him a living Spirit, potentially a God. 

He was shown that the call had come to him, as an elder 
brother of the race to prepare himself to teach and guide the rest 
of humanity, his younger brethren. From this knowledge was 
born a deeper devotion, a greater love of humanity, and a stronger 
desire for at-one-ment with the Father. 

He was not expected to perfectly attain any of the virtues we 
have given at this stage, but he was expected to realize fully that 
they were of all things most desirable, and to be controlled by 
desire to attain them. 

At last the day came when the Great Ones gave him the first 
Great Initiation, when he was born into the ''Kingdom of 
Heaven." In the cave of the heart was the Christ Child born, of 
immaculate conception, of the Holy Ghost and virgin, or purified 
matter ("Mary"), a babe born into the Kingdom, under the 
star of Initiation, which always rises over the head of the one 
who is ready, although seen only by those who are psychic. At 
this birth a very real extension of consciousness ensues, although 
the individual may not at this time remember the ceremony which 
is given in the astral body, while the physical lies asleep, yet he 
can never be the same as though it had not taken place. The God 
once born cannot die. He may have a hard time, as he will, 
for many forces will try to destroy Him, but He must survive. 
He may take ages to work it out, or he may hurry along and 
make rapid progress, that depends upon himself. The increased 
consciousness gives him a better understanding than he had 
before, and better work can be accomplished. The virtues that 
up to this time he has been struggling to attain must now be per- 
fected. No longer may the faults be controlled, they must be 
gotten rid of, and the work has that definiteness about it that has 
not before been required. It may be done in a short time pro- 
vided the person be sufficiently intense, or it may take many 
earthly lives to accomplish it. It lies entirely with the individual. 
The emotional and desire nature must be under complete sub- 
jection before the next step can be taken. 

21 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

But when at last the task is accomplished, the second Great 
Initiation is given him. Although the work is again given him 
upon the higher planes, the training that he has received since the 
first Initiation has so developed his psychic faculties that he is 
conscious of what is going on at the second Initiation. We are 
told that the mark of one who is reborn is, that "he asks no 
lX higher joy than to feel that he is doing the Master's bidding, he 
asks no more of the world than that he may serve it ; " so the mark of 
the second Great Initiation, at least in the Bible, seems to be that 
he receives his new name. He is baptized with water symbolic of 
the fact that his purification is accomplished, and with fire 
symbolic of the great spiritual power that is now his. 

After this Initiation, with the added power it gives, the 
progress should be much more rapid, although the temptations 
of this plane are proportionate to the strength, and each plane 
has its temptations. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after 
the baptism, so all meet the tempter at this stage. But there is 
a very definite work to be done before higher planes may be 
reached. As he conquered the desire plane after the first Initia- 
tion, so must he now conquer the mental plane, and conquer it so 
completely that he can function consciously upon the three planes 
at once, the physical, the astral, and the mental. He must 
definitely get rid of the illusion of the personal self, realizing 
that he is not his body, and that his body is but the dress that 
he wears ; that he is not even his astral, or his mental bodies, that 
they too are but vestures of the real self. He must get rid of 
doubt, and this can only be accomplished by gaining perfect 
knowledge. He must forever part with the last trace of supersti- 
tion. This also is accomplished by mastering knowledge, so the 
whole struggle of this stage appears to be the mastery of the 
mental plane. 

Then comes the third Great Initiation, the Transfiguration. 
The man becomes the full-grown Christ, or Master of Compas- 
sion. The God completely dominates, so the disciples fall upon 
their faces, not being able to gaze steadfastly upon his brilliancy. 
Moses, too, must veil his face when he comes down from the 
Mount of Initiation. With this initiation comes a power so 
strong that no unclean thing can live in its pure vibration if 
allowed to flow in full strength. That it was that felled the lying 

22 



THE MYSTERIES 

pair at Peter's feet. Falsehood could not stand the blaze of that 
aura. That it was that killed the impure hands stretched out to 
steady the Ark of the Covenant, that symbol of the perfect Man. 
That it was that caused poor Dagon, the God of the desire nature, 
to break himself in pieces when placed near to the Ark. 

The fourth Great Initiation is the Crucifixion. Here the 
Initiate must conquer all desire for form, being willing to relin- 
quish it, realizing the Self as One, or he must be willing to crucify 
the Spirit upon the cross of matter, if by so doing he can assist 
humanity, forcing his conquering Spirit to stay in a prison 
house of flesh of his own free will, because of the great love he 
bears us. Here is a crucifixion of sufficiently heroic proportions 
to suit the Godlike character of the drama. By His own free 
will to relinquish the glory that is His, to stay tied to this plane 
of matter, conscious of all of our sins and sorrows, all through the 
ages, until He can take us into the Kingdom with Him. This is 
renunciation of colossal magnitude, for we are taught that naught 
but His own will can hold the conquering hero down. He is a 
God and may do what He will. Thus does He give His life for 
us, His real life, not simply the life of one physical body. 

The fifth Great Initiation is the Ascension. 

We have used the terms that Biblical students are familiar 
with, but in other languages they are styled differently, although 
the idea is the same. In the Bible the student knows that these 
experiences are all given in connection with the life of Jesus, but 
many have not noticed that the same typical steps in human life 
are given in connection with the lives of other Biblical characters. 
We will show the signs by which they may be discerned as we 
progress. 

We find that all religions have a Great One whom they regard 
as the first to attain this great distinction, to whom they look for 
assistance, the "Great Teacher of Gods and men." According 
to the language is the name used to distinguish Him. To the 
Hindoo he is the " Bodhisattva " or the "Jagat Gura;" to the 
Jew he is the Messiah; to the Christian, the Christ; in ancient 
days the same idea was symbolized by Mithras of the Persians; 
Orpheus, Bacchus, Dionysius, Apollo of the Greeks ; Iacchus, Baal, 
or Bel and Tamuz of Babylonia; and there are many others, 
whose names have been so degraded during the ages by the bestial 

23 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

conceptions of undeveloped people, that one needs to dig deeply into 
the dust of the ages to find the original purity of the thought. 

A notable example of this degradation is that of Bacchus, who, 
because of the wineglass held in the hand of the statue, originally 
intended to convey the idea that he was about to give a deep 
draught of the wine of spirituality, preparatory to administering 
the rite of initiation, which was symbolized by the thyrsus, the 
rod of initiation which he held in the other hand, became in the 
course of the ages the God of Revelry. Probably this tendency 
to degrade the symbolism of a statue was the cause of the law of 
the Hebrews forbidding the use of images in their worship, and 
was also the reason that their symbol of the perfect man was the 
Ark of the Covenant. For the conception of the perfect mani- 
festation of God in man, underlay all of the symbols of the Gods 
that the people have worshipped at any time in any age. The 
trouble has been that this conception has varied according to the 
stage of the evolution of the worshippers and their conception of 
what perfection was. We Christians have but to turn the 
pages of history to the Spanish Inquisition, carried on in the 
name of our Great Master of Compassion, to realize how a noble 
ideal and a perfect teaching may be degraded and forced to 
excuse the iniquity in the hearts of men. 

This tendency, however, only shows that the people were but in- 
fant souls handling a revealed religion that was still beyond 
their comprehension, except for sporadic instances, here and 
there, that were sufficient to keep the knowledge of the Mysteries 
alive upon earth. This, too, explains the necessity of the great 
secrecy that the initiates were obliged to maintain, and also 
explains why the Old Testament was to be read to the people by 
the Priests, who selected such parts as they could understand. 

The God that represented this idea to the race was often 
symbolized to the people by the sun, as being the representative 
of God upon earth, or by a circle with a diameter through it, 
symbolic of the dual nature of the creative forces of the Second 
Person of the Trinity, the positive and negative forces. 

Occultism is so little understood by the general reader, that 
perhaps it would be only just to state here that Occultists recog- 
nize in the Christian's Christ, this Great Teacher of Gods and 
men, but exalt him by claiming that He, and His Great Brother 

24 



THE MYSTERIES 

Buddha, had a hand in founding all of the great religions of the 
world, giving to the people just so much truth as they could 
assimilate each time, and reincarnating again and again when the 
old religion had been so corrupted as to be no longer useful for 
man's progress, or when it had crystallized into dogma too far 
to be pliable enough to mould the people. Theosophists are teach- 
ing now, that even as he came two thousand years ago, using the 
body of Jesus to give religion a new impetus, even so is the time 
now ripe for Him to appear again, and finish the lesson He then 
started to give the race, namely: the necessity of developing 
universal brotherly love. They believe that His star has appeared 
in the east, and that he who tries to give the news to the world, 
that she may prepare for her King, is best serving the Great One. 
Whether we believe this or not, it can do no harm to watch events 
and see what comes. 

It certainly looks as though all of the great religions sprang 
from some common source, and the Great White Lodge, estab- 
lished upon earth by the Great Ones who have man's welfare in 
mind, gives a probable source. In all of the great religions we 
trace a great triplicity of helpers, that are typified in our Bible by 
the Lord Jehovah, the Master Jesus, and the Master Christ; the 
Lord Jehovah, manifested by Moses guiding man upon the physical 
plane, Jesus manifesting in Joshua and others teaching man to 
gain control of the desire nature, and build up the mentality, 
and then, at last, when the time is ripe for the Christ Child to 
be born in the heart, the great Christ takes charge of man, and 
carries him through the great initiations. These three have 
worked together all through the ages, and others who have 
attained have worked with them, but in our Bible they are used 
as the types. Zachariah saw them in his vision of the golden 
candlestick, "two Great Ones" (Christ and Jesus) who "stand 
by the Lord of the whole earth. " (Lord Jehovah) . Zach. iv. 

If we may accept the idea that the Great White Lodge exists, 
then we may accept the idea that the great initiations have been 
given all through the ages, as fast as a man could be found who 
was qualified, that it gives them still, and that it will ever con- 
tinue to give them so long as a man exists who will be helped 
onward by them. Nations may rise and fall, churches may grow 
worldly and neglect their part even to the extent of forgetting 

25 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

their Mysteries, but the Great White Lodge may be depended 
upon not to lose its vigilance for a moment; neither need we 
fear that the Initiates will ever neglect to do all in their power 
to draw man onward and upward. 

That the early Christians had their "Mysteries of Jesus" is 
readily seen from the writings of the early Church Fathers, and 
the New Testament continually uses technical terms used only 
in Mystery work, as for instance: "babes," "the innocents," the 
"perfect," the "Brethren." St. Paul speaks very plainly of the 
Mysteries of the ages being revealed to the saints (not to com- 
mon church members, note). After getting the information 
that the Mysteries really existed and had their technical terms 
and symbols, the pages of the Bible are found to really bristle 
with references to these typical stages in man's development. The 
political ambitions of the Church of the fourth and fifth cen- 
turies drove the Mystics into retired monasteries, and at last 
they discontinued their teachings for lack of properly qualified 
pupils. Only here and there could one be found who had the 
vision celestial, and he was invariably misunderstood and per- 
secuted. The day has now come when it seems to be the intention 
of the Great Ones to restore the light to the world, and give all 
Churches a chance to restore the Mysteries to their proper place 
in ecclesiastical work. When this is done the Churches will find 
that new life has been infused into their dry bones, and the mem- 
bership will become a living Spirtual force, fit to be used in the 
Master's service. 

But to return to the uniform teaching of all of the Mystery 
work of all religions. The thought seems to have been to teach 
the descent of Spirit into matter, and its evolution upward 
through seven stages of progress until it appears upon earth as 
human, into whom the Lord Jehovah breathes the breath of life, and 
as the Bible states it, man became a "living soul." The great 
law is the law of evolution, evolution of body, evolution of 
intellect, evolution of soul, because of the impulse given by 
the vibrations of the God-given Spirit within. In all we find a 
recognition and acceptance of the great law of cause and effect, 
or karma, as the Hindoo would express it, but some difference of 
opinion as to how this law might be expected to work out. In the 
most of them repeated incarnations of the ego in the flesh seems 

26 



THE MYSTERIES 

to be the only legitimate explanation of the problem. So there 
has grown up the doctrine of reincarnation. In all we find three 
manifestations of the power of the Supreme, or the Trinity, and 
in all a recognition of the fact that these three emanate from One 
Great Source. In all the thought "from God we come to God 
do we return" is the dominant note, and the enormity of the task 
of transforming man into a God recognized as demanding more 
than one life. The methods of the Mystery work being such as 
was deemed best to enable man to accomplish this transformation 
as rapidly as possible. In all of the schools good is recognized 
as the constructive force in nature, and evil as destructive, or 
error. All recognize, more or less clearly, the creative power of 
thought. 

Mrs. Besant says: "The unity of the moral teachings is not 
less striking than the unity of the conceptions of the universe, 
and of the experience of those who rose out of the prison of the 
body into freedom of the higher spheres. It is clear that a body 
of primeval teaching was in the hands of definite custodians who 
in the schools in which they taught had disciples who studied 
their doctrines. The identity of these schools and their discipline 
stands out plainly when we study the moral teaching, the demands 
made on pupils, and the mental and spiritual states to which they 
were raised." 

"And He said, 'unto you it is given to know the mysteries 
of God, but to others in parables ; that seeing they might not see, 
and hearing they might not understand.' " Luke vm, 8. 

St. Augustine tells us: "That which is called the Christian 
Religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist from 
the beginning of the human race until Christ came in the flesh, 
after which time the true religion, which already existed, began 
to be called Christianity." It really seems almost unnecessary 
to search any farther after such a statement from such a source. 

A whole volume might be filled with quotations sustaining my 
position, but the above, imperfect though it be, must suffice for 
the present study. All of these things are in print and need not 
be repeated here. 

These similarities all point to a common source, and occultists 
tell us that that source is the Brotherhood of the Great White 
Lodge, the hierarchy of Adepts, who watch over and guide the 

27 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

evolution of humanity, and who have preserved these truths 
unimpaired; from time to time, as necessity arose, reasserting 
them in the ears of men. From other worlds, from earlier 
humanities the first Great Ones came to help the child man on 
our planet, but gradually they have been reinforced by the flower 
of our own people, until, one by one, the visitors have withdrawn, 
and we are told that now there is but one of them left, and the 
work is being done by our own Initiates. So today, the Masters 
still teach eager pupils, showing the path, and guiding the 
disciple's steps; still they may be reached by all who seek them 
bearing the sacrificial fuel of love in their hearts, full of devotion, 
and unselfish longing to serve; still they carry out the ancient 
discipline, still unveil the ancient Mysteries. The two pillars of 
their Lodge gateway are established in strength, for they are Love 
and Wisdom, and through the straight portal may pass only those 
from whose shoulders have fallen the burden of selfish desire, in 
response to the deep-seated devotion to the high ideal. 

If all these things be true, a heavy task lies before us: the 
climb from physical man to the God Man. No wonder the ancients 
thought many lives in the flesh necessary to give the time needed 
for the accomplishment of so herculean a task. But what said 
Christ? "Is it not written in your law, I said ye are Gods, unto 
whom the word of God came (and the Scriptures cannot be 
broken) say ye of Him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent 
into the world, Thou blasphemest because I said, I am the Son 
of God?" John x, 34-35-36. 



28 



THE METAPHYSICAL IDEAS OF THE ANCIENT HEBREW 



CHAPTER III. 

THE METAPHYSICAL IDEAS OF THE ANCIENT HEBREW. 

What were the metaphysical ideas of the ancient Hebrew! 
That question seems to be one upon which there is a diversity of 
opinion. Even in the days of Christ in His last incarnation, there 
were several sects all of whom took their teachings from the 
Old Testament, and one of them did not believe in the immortality 
of the soul. The reason for all this ignorance is shown by Christ's 
question to Nicodemus, "Art thou a Master in Israel and knoweth 
not these things?" In other words, art thou a Master in Israel, 
and have not even been born again, in spite of the Mosaic law, 
that only one who has taken the second Great Initiation shall be 
a teacher? They had let their Mystery teaching lapse, just as 
our church today is doing, and, just as it will be with us, they 
knew not the Lord when He came. 

But let us see what we can find to guide us to some sort of 
a conclusion, for, taking the Bible by itself we do not get a per- 
fect metaphysical scheme of philosophy. There seems to be much 
taken for granted, probably because the rest was given in the oral 
Mystery work, and the Great Ones knew that by the time the 
Scriptures became the property of the masses, that the other 
world Scriptures would be at their command also. The destiny of 
the Aryan race is to be so different from the destiny of the races 
that preceded it, that somewhat different methods must be used 
to develop the mentality that is to be its crowning acquisition. 
This race is to develop the intuition also, after the mental is 
sufficiently developed, so the Mysteries could be hidden under a 
deeper symbolism, for that faculty will enable the race to find 
them when the time is ripe. The old race was to learn to obey, 
the new race is to learn to command. The old race were children, 
the Aryan race is to attain the manhood of the race. The old 
race looked to its leaders for everything, the new race is to 

29 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

learn to take care of itself. The old race might be fearful, the 
new race must be courageous. Fatalism bound the old race, the 
new race must hear nothing of that. It must be enabled to find 
that it can conquer all things by its intellectual comprehension of 
law. The Mysteries must be reserved for it, but must be hidden 
until it has gained the confidence that comes from experience, and 
the character that comes from struggle with difficulties, so that 
the Mystery work may be an assistance, not a drawback. 

Ephanius Wilson, A. M., tells us in "Hebrew Literature": 
"From the very beginning of their history the Hebrews were a 
deeply poetic race. They were fully alive to the beauties of 
external nature, and no national poetry contains more vivid 
descriptions of the sea, sky, and the panorama of the forest, 
stream, and mountain, peopled by the varied activities of 
animated nature. The songs of Zion glow with poetic enthusiasm, 
but their principal characteristic is their intense earnestness. Yet 
this religious fervor becomes the basis of sublimity, pathos, and 
picturesqueness, such as can seldom be approached even by the 
finest productions of the Attic muse. But the Hebrews were 
also philosophers, and if they never attained to what we might 
call the nettete et clarte of the Greek metaphysician, they excelled 
the other thinkers in the boldness and profound spirituality of 
their philosophical mysticism. In proof of this association we 
may point to the "Kabbalah." 

The word "Kabbalah" means doctrine received by oral tradi- 
tion, and is applied to these remains to distinguish them from 
the canonical Hebrew Scriptures. Hebrew speculation attempts 
in the "Kabbalah" to give a philosophic or theosophistic basis 
to the Hebrew belief, while at the same time it supplements the 
doctrines of the Old Testament. The immortality of the soul in 
the "Kabbalah" is taken for granted, and a complete and con- 
sistent psychology is propounded in which is included the 
Oriental theory of reincarnation. This account of the human 
soul, as distinct from the human body, treats of the origin and 
eternal destiny of man's immortal part." 

These doctrines are supposed to have been given to Moses on 
the Mount, and were by him given to Joshua, orally, who in the 
same manner taught them to the chosen forty who were called 
receivers. These, in turn, were supposed to give them to such of 

30 



THE METAPHYSICAL IDEAS OF THE ANCIENT HEBREW 

the people as qualified themselves for the higher knowledge. They 
were a part of the true Mystery teaching of the Hebrew Religion. 
Some writers claim that these teachings came from Adam and 
were handed down to the race by the Divine teachers that in- 
structed infant humanity, and that Moses got his information 
from Egypt, who had in turn been instructed by Abraham long 
before. Some claim it started with Abraham, and still others 
point to the fact that Ezra is admitted to have copied the Books 
of the Law after the siege of Jerusalem, and they attribute the 
whole thing, to the Babylonian influence upon him. Some think 
that Ezra wrote only what he remembered of the Law, not chang- 
ing anything in the least, and the Books of Moses are now just 
what they were when the Great Leader wrote them, when fresh 
from the Mount. The Smith Peloubet "Bible Dictionary" says 
under ' ' Ezra " : " The principal works ascribed to Ezra by the 
Jews are : 1. The institution of the great synagogue ; 2. The 
settling of the Canon of the Scripture, and restoring, correcting, 
and editing the whole sacred volume; 3. The introduction of the 
Chaldee character instead of the old Hebrew or Samaritan; 
4. The authorship of the books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, 
and some add Esther; and, many of the Jews say, also, of the 
books of Ezekiel, Daniel and the twelve prophets." Now, how 
many books have we left in the Old Testament? Only seven — 
Isaiah, Eccles., Jer., Job, Psalms, Prov., Song of Solomon are all 
that some one has not attributed to Ezra. 

This is very significant if we consider that Ezra lived while 
the Buddha was teaching in India, and stirring the country to its 
center, and that he was one of a band of wise men who lived in 
Babylon on the Cross Roads between India and the Great Sea. 
Then when we study the symbolism we find the names of Zerub- 
bable (he who was born at the gate of God), Jeshua (Jesus), 
Noahdiah (Noah beloved of God), who H. P. B. says was 
Vaivasvatti Manu, also Moses in one incarnation; and Eleazar, 
who greatly resembles the one whom the Theosophists call 
Master K. H. ; and Meremoth (exalted ones), from the mystical 
significance of the letters they may be a band of understudies of 
the Manus, or the Manus of the sub-races. We know that the 
Great One the Hindoos call the Bodhissattva, and whom 
we call the Christ, was in incarnation when the Buddha was. 

31 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

These, with Daniel and his other Initiates, made quite a band 
of wise men to compile the Sacred Book for the new race. 

Ezra v. 2, says "Zerubbable and Jeshua (Jesus) began to build 
the house of God and with him were the prophets of God helping 
them." 

Jeshua, Eleazar, and Meremoth (plural) looked after the fur- 
nishing of the temple (religion). The furnishing of a religion 
would be its Scriptures, of course. The furnishings were to be 
of Copper and Brass (judgment), Silver (regeneration), and Gold 
(God's righteousness and wisdom). The Scriptures were to deal 
with judgment for sin, man's regeneration, and God's wisdom 
and righteousness. 

The Rev. C. D. Ginsburg, LL. D., says in an article entitled 
" Kabbalah" in the Britannica: " 'Kabbalah,' as now used is 
a technical name for the system of Theosophy which developed 
among the Jews in the middle ages. In the older Jewish litera- 
ture the name is applied to the whole body of received religious 
doctrine with the exception of the Pentateuch, thus including the 
Prophets and Hagiography as well as the oral traditions, ulti- 
mately embodied in the 'Mishna.' It is only since the eleventh 
and twelfth centuries that the 'Kabbalah' has become the ex- 
clusive appellation of the renowned system of Theosophy which 
claims to have been transmitted uninterruptedly by the mouths of 
the patriarchs and prophets since the creation of the first man." 

Because of the similarities between the doctrines of the 
"Kabbalah" and those of the "New Testament" many Kabbalists 
of the highest position in the Synagogue have at different times 
embraced the Christian faith, and have written elaborate books 
to bring their Jewish brethren into the Christian Church. 

To quote Dr. Wilson exactly, again, for the ideas of the last 
paragraph are mainly his: "There can be no doubt that the 
'Kabbalah' contains the ripest fruit of spiritual and mystical 
speculation which the Jewish world produced on subjects which 
had hitherto been obscured by the gross anthropomorphism of 
such men as Maimonides and his school. We can understand the 
revolt of devout Hebrews from traditions which represented 
Jehovah as wearing a phylactery, and as descending to the earth 
for the purpose of taking a razor and shaving the head of Senna- 
cherib. The theory of the Sephiroth was at least a noble and 

32 



THE METAPHYSICAL IDEAS OF THE ANCIENT HEBREW 

truly reverent guess" (if guess it was) "at the mode of God's 
immanence in nature. This conception won the favor of the 
Christian philosophers in the middle ages and indeed was 
adopted by the angelic Dr. Aquinas himself, the foremost of 
ecclesiastical and scholastic metaphysicians. The psychology of 
the 'Kabbalah,' even with its treatment of the soul's pre-existence 
before union with the body, found many advocates among Gentile 
and even Christian philosophers." 

"We are therefore led to the conclusion that the 'Kabbalah' is 
by far the most exalted, the most profound, and the most inter- 
esting of all the mass of traditional literature which comprises 
among other writings, such remains as the 'Targums' and the 
'Talmuds'." 

I have quoted at length from these two eminent scholars that 
the reader may have freshly in mind the probable conceptions of 
the ancient Hebrew, that rendered plain to him so much that has 
troubled us in our endeavor to understand the Old Testament. 

We must remember that the Jew was not only an Oriental in 
the fact that he lived in Palestine, but he was an Oriental in the 
fullest sense of the term in his earlier history, having come 
originally from the north of India, and belonging to the race 
that had escaped from the flood of Atlantis, from which the 
Hindoo race had evolved. Theosophists claim that the tribe that 
gave us the Jews of today were set aside, or taken apart, to start 
the new Fifth Race along higher lines by the Manu, who H. P. B. 
says was Noah; so a large part of their earlier emigrations must 
have been through the plains and mountains of India, as they 
traveled southwestwardly down into Chaldea, where they stayed 
for long ages, drinking in the religious ideas of the people. We 
see this continually cropping out in the allegories, many of which 
date from this period in their wanderings, and are located in the 
far east rather than in Palestine. The local coloring being 
given later on by Ezra to cultivate the patriotism of the Jews. 
Consequently it was quite natural that the Jew should have had 
much the same idea of the ancient truths as were held ' by the 
Indians and Babylonians, especially as their patriarchs were very 
evidently Initiates. We are told that Abraham went into Egypt 
with Lot, and that Moses had "all of the learning of the 
Egyptians," which could mean nothing less than that he had 

33 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

studied in the great school located there, that was so famous for 
so many ages, under the rule of the Great White Lodge. 

A literal reading of the Scriptures shows Daniel to have been 
a wise man, or one of the Magi, a high Initiate, and he and his 
companions are shown as performing miracles. We are told they 
were the wisest of all the wise men. Naturally a book compiled 
at such a time under such supervision (for we are told Ezra 
rewrote) must have been the best that could be compiled for the 
new race that was to need it. Surely it is worth while to study 
it carefully. 

We should remember that an allegory is a story, historical or 
otherwise, used to carry a spiritual or poetic meaning. The 
stories selected are usually historical because the historical sig- 
nificance makes the meaning clearer. Ezra selected the stories 
that were no doubt well known in his day, to convey this inner 
meaning. The most of the allegories show evidence of their Aryan 
origin, but as the Jews were to be the custodians of the Scrip- 
tures during so many ages, they were to be inspired with loyalty 
by the stories being given a local coloring. 

Their Initiates understood. The priests read such portions of 
the Scripture to the people as they were able to understand. This 
worked all right so long as the Priesthood were Initiates. It is 
only after the Mysteries are lost that the priesthood can be no 
longer trusted to guide the people. 

Let us see if we can put in a few words the great scheme of 
things that is given in the Kabbalah, and the Mishna, for with- 
out these the Old Testament must ever be misunderstood, as it 
takes so much knowledge for granted on the part of the reader 
that can be supplied from no other source. 

Great hierarchies of forces are sometimes referred to in the 
Bible, showing that the great plan was understood; but the 
teaching as a whole is concise, and concerns generally just what 
is needed for the practical training of the race. 

They show that, first, there is "The Most Holy Ancient One," 
the "Concealed of all Concealments," as the Kabbalah quaintly 
puts it; then in common with all great religions they have their 
Trinity of manifestations in their "Kether" (crown), the I, Yod, 
the Father of the Christian, the First Logos of the Theosophist, 
the will manifestation of the "Most Holy Ancient One." 

34 



THE METAPHYSICAL IDEAS OF THE ANCIENT HEBREW 

Second, they have "Chokmah (wisdom), the H, Hevah, the 
Second Logos of the Theosophist, the Son of the Christian, the 
Divine woman of the Old Testament. 

Third, comes Binah (understanding), VH, The Holy Spirit 
of the Christian, the Third Logos of the Theosophist. 

From understanding born of God's creative love and wisdom 
come forth seven (Sephiroth), the seven attributes of God mani- 
festing upon the seven planes. 

We are shown that everything in nature has a triune mani- 
festation in its possibilities. First, this applies to the Cosmos, to 
our Universe, to our planet, then to man. A scheme very simple, 
yet one of infinite possibilities. All showing a triune manifesta- 
tion of the seven attributes of God. In man it shows in his 
moral, mental, and spiritual natures. He is ever pictured as 
being "made in the image of God." 

IHVH, which has been translated Jehovah in our Bible in the 
new version, and God in the old one, seems to be intended to 
indicate these three great streams of creative power on their 
downward course into matter. 

"The Most Holy Ancient One" is symbolized as the "Vast 
Countenance." The Vast Countenance has but one side, because 
with him all things are right; hence we have but one "all-seeing 
eye." 

The Kabbalah says when the Vast Countenance uncovers 
towards the little countenance (man) all things are beheld in the 
light of mercy. Wrath and judgment cometh forth from the 
little countenance, for the little countenance showeth two sides, 
both the right and the left. 

"When it is written, My wrath is kindled, the wrath of 
Tetragrammaton is kindled, etc., is to be understood to refer 
to the little countenance (Microprosopus)." P. 198 "Kabbalah." 

"War cometh from the wrath of Microprosopus" (Man). 

' ' The fire of war is not mitigated save by the fire of the Altar. ' ' 
"Kabbalah," P. 198. 

"The one 'Yod' is concealed, the other is made manifest, 
but that which is hidden and that which is manifest are balanced 
by equilibrium of forms." P. 92, "Kabbalah." 

"The Mother 'H' is joined unto the king and is found to form 
one body with Him." P. 75. 

35 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

"When the male is joined with the female they both form one 
complete body." P. 334, "Kabbalah." 

"The path of the bride 'H' is called the land of Canaan 
wherein Joshua found giants." (It is in the lower planes where 
the wisdom creative outflow makes bodies and creates forms of 
all kinds.) P. 334, "Kabbalah." 

"When the inferior man descendeth into this world, like unto 
the Supernal form, in himself there are found two Spirits. Man is 
formed from two sides, from the right and from the left. P. 91, 
"Kabbalah." 

"With respect unto the right side he had the Holy Intelli- 
gences; with respect to the left side, the animal soul." Here is 
the animal that man is commanded to sacrifice. 

Page 316, paragraph 565: "Hence it is written (Gen. vm, 21). 
And IHVH smelled a sweet savor. It is not written, He smells 
the odor of sacrifice. What is sweet save rest? Assuredly the 
Spirit at rest is the mitigation of the Lords of judgment. When 
therefore it is said that IHVH smelled the odor of rest, most 
certainly the odor of the sacrificed victim is not meant; but the 
odor of those mitigations of severity which are referred to the 
nose of " Microprosopus " (Man). 

"From the nose of Microprosopus (Man) proceedeth from the 
one nostril smoke and fire, and from the other peace and bene- 
ficient Spirits. Prom the Kabbalah as translated by S. L. Mac 
Gregor Mathers in "Kabbalah Unveiled." 

To quote a few lines of the "Kabbalah" as translated by 
Dr. Wilson: "The 'Most Holy Ancient One' is found to have 
three heads, which are contained in one head. (His manifestation 
is triune.) And he Himself is that only highest Supreme Head." 

"And since He the Most Holy Ancient One is thus symbolized 
in the triad all other lights which shine are included in triads. ' ' 

Moreover the Most Holy Ancient One is symbolized by the duad 
(positive and negative), so also all the remaining lights are 
mystically divided into duads." 

"Furthermore the 'Most Holy Ancient One' is symbolized and 
concealed under the conception of unity, for He Himself is One 
and all things are one." 

So Moses said to the people, "Hear, Oh Israel, There is one 
God; Him only shalt thou worship." He wanted to inculcate in 

36 



THE METAPHYSICAL IDEAS OF THE ANCIENT HEBREW 

them the understanding of the unity that it is the destiny of the 
Aryan race to understand. 

The Hindoo loved deep metaphysical speculation, but the 
Aryan race was to live an active life, and the great secrets of the 
beginning of things are given in a few terse words in Genesis. 
First, the perfect thought form of Elohim is given in Ch. i, then 
in Ch. ii, beginning with fourth verse, we see the great Lord 
Jehovah starting humanity on its evolutionary path on this planet, 
by which it may attain the perfection foreseen in the first chapter 
when God saw it and it was Good. 

The Theosophists tell us that our humanity evolved up to the 
human form upon the Moon chain, and the Bible shows that the 
egos were human, because the Lord Jehovah made a body for 
Man. He was already man and the Lord Jehovah makes him a 
body of the dust, or finer, etheric, particles of the lower planes, or 
mental matter. 

This will be brought out more fully in other chapters, but the 
first glimpse given us is so very brief, that one must turn to other 
Scriptures to get a full conception of the depth of meaning of the 
cryptic phrases. A deep study, however, shows that they contra- 
dict no scientific fact that has been proven, nor do they contradict 
other Scriptural accounts. It is all there, but it is evidently not 
the work of the Aryan race to dwell upon that great beginning so 
much as to consider the path he is to take to attain to the greatest 
degree of usefulness. The typical steps of the race in their 
progress is well marked out, and, if we study the symbolic mean- 
ing of the allegories we will find a clear story of the great plan 
of the Infinite for our salvation, which is a story of evolution; 
and the hopeful part of it is, that we are given time enough to 
accomplish it. 

In this entirely inadequate review the writer has endeavored 
to give the reader a few of the facts that throw light upon the 
inner meaning of the Scriptures of the Hebrew (those who have 
crossed over), and in the succeeding chapters will bring out other 
points that will help, as the interpretation of passages call for 
them. 



37 



AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE STORY OF CREATION. 

Although many of these points are brought out in some of 
the other chapters, perhaps it would be wise to give a connected 
account of the creation in as few words as possible, as it reads 
symbolically, as so many have had serious trouble with these first 
few chapters of our Bible. 

All translators seem to agree that there are two accounts of the 
creation given in Genesis, and that the one in the second chapter 
seems to be by far the older of the two. It seems very probable 
that the first chapter was not written until the Great Ones met 
in Babylon in the time of Ezra to compile the Scripture for the 
new Aryan race. As was fitting in a work of that kind, in a few 
terse sentences the origin of things was shown. 

Prom occult sources we learn that all things that appear upon 
the Physical Plane must first appear upon the Mental Plane. To 
make the statement so plain that it may be readily grasped by a 
mind that has not studied along these lines, no house, or anything 
else, can be built until it has been clearly planned in the mind 
of the architect. As he conceives of this plan and perfects it in 
his mind he builds it upon the Mental Plane. God's thoughts are 
supposed to rest upon the Cosmic Mental Plane. When the Builder 
needs them we are told that He brings them down. 

So in the first chapter of Genesis we find the perfected thought 
form of the Logos (God) in his seven-fold expression, showing the 
perfected patterns of all the seven great kingdoms of nature, as 
they will ultimately become when their evolution is complete. 

The Kabbalah gives us the key to this in the words "Moses 
was perfect from the very day of his birth, seeing it is written, 
Ex. ii, 2. 'And she saw him that he was good.' " Page 197, para- 
graph 694. If the mother of Moses pronouncing him good meant 
that he was perfect from his birth, and Occultists tell us this was 

38 



THE STORY OF CREATION 

indeed true, as he was perfected upon the Moon Chain, then how 
much more certain is it that when God looked upon his creations 
and pronounced them good it meant that they were present to 
His mind as they were to become when the whole course of their 
long evolution shall have been accomplished. Is it not reasonable 
to suppose that it was the perfected pattern that He pronounced 
good? We certainly realize that at the present stage there is 
nothing perfect. All is in a stage of evolution towards perfection. 

In ' ' Inner Life, ' ' Vol. II, page 162, Mr. Leadbeater says : ' ' The 
Logos has thought out the whole life of His system, not only as it 
is now, but as it has been every moment in the past, and as it will 
be every moment in the future. And His thought calls into ex- 
istence that of which He thinks. These thought forms are said 
to be on the Cosmic Mental Plane, — two whole sets of seven planes 
above our set of seven. Thus we may say that on the Cosmic 
Mental Plane the whole system was called into existence simul- 
taneously by that thought, — an act of special creation." 

Let us look at that word "Elohim, " the word that is trans- 
lated God, or Jehovah, according to the version. Elohim is a 
feminine noun with a masculine plural ending, and might be 
translated abstractly, power and creative wisdom; or it may mean 
the great creative agents of the Infinite. At any rate, it is plural. 

In the first chapter we find Elohim creating, and in the second 
chapter it is the Lord Jehovah who is carrying on the work. How- 
ever the word bara (create) is used but three times in the first 
chapter of Genesis: first as to the origin of matter, second as to 
the origin of life, and third as to the origin of man's soul. All 
other things are said to be made (re-formed). 

In spite of the most determined efforts the scientists have not 
been able to prove the stages of creation as given in Genesis i 
to be erroneous. They practically agree with the nebular hypo- 
thesis as worked out scientifically. First, "In the beginning Elohim 
created." Science has nothing to say about that beginning. 
Second, fine gaseous matter, too fine to reflect light; third, gas 
condenses into liquid; fourth, light, liquid reflects light; fifth, 
mist rises from the water and a space is left between the water 
above, and the water below; sixth, great upheavals of land; 
seventh, grass, herbs, fruit trees; eighth, the mist gets less dense, 
and the sun, moon, and stars appear ; ninth, living creatures begin 

39 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

to swarm in the waters and birds begin to fly; tenth, cattle and 
beasts of the field; eleventh, Man; twelfth, God. (The Hebrew 
always begins and ends with God.) This is now generally con- 
ceded as the probable sequence of events. 

But in reading this inner story forget all about days of 
twenty-four hours each, and read "evening of inharmony and 
morning of harmony to God's will, one day, or one period of time. 
There is no time upon the Plane where these thought forms of 
Divinity lie. Great periods of time are involved all now know, 
but how much time can never be known until the end. Science 
and Occultism have forced the narrow minded to accept the truth 
in regard to the great periods of time that must have elapsed, to 
have accomplished so much as has been done, so far, in the great 
evolutionary march, but it is impossible for the human mind to 
conceive of the periods involved. 

The first chapter ending with the third verse of the second 
chapter gives us the perfected thought form of the Great Architect 
of the Universe, complete even to the smallest detail of what the 
destiny of the planet and all of its multitudinous creatures shall 
be when they shall have completed their long evolutionary journey. 

In the second chapter, beginning with the fourth verse, we 
find the Great Master Builder, the Lord Jehovah, beginning His 
work, for to Him was given the great task of starting the evolu- 
tionary march. The symbol of this Great One is always the Moon. 
Occultists tell us He was the Eegent of the great Moon Chain. 
"Perfect from His birth," He is the Seed Manu of the Theosophist. 

The Lord Jehovah's first work is to give to man a body in 
which to manifest. We find the egos of humanity lying upon the 
Buddhic Plane. They are already human, having reached that 
stage of evolution upon the Moon Chain. The Lord Jehovah builds 
man a body of the dust (the Kabbalah says "of the finer etheric 
matter," evidently of the mental matter). He forms the body 
out of the atomic matter of the Mental Plane but must call upon 
the second breath, or Spirit, or the Second Great Outpouring 
before it can become a ' ' Living Soul, ' ' not a physical body. 

The first breath was given when Elohim breathed upon the 
face of the waters, and impregnated all matter with the Holy 
Spirit and brought forth the atomic structure of all planes, but 
no forms can be brought forth without the attractive force of the 

40 



THE STORY OF CREATION 

Great Second Outpouring of Spirit. The egos (for it is all in the 
plural, and refers to humanity) are now ready to function on the 
Mental Plane. They have causal and mental bodies. 

Lord Jehovah places humanity in a garden of trees. Trees are 
symbols of teachers of wisdom. The garden is eastward, or 
toward intellectuality. The most of the teachers teach that it is 
best to learn by obedience to God's law, but one teaches that by 
breaking law will experience be gained more rapidly. Man is to 
be a free will being, so he must be given a choice. The Lord 
Jehovah warns and guides, but does not force. 

Four rivers flow out of Eden, the Wisdom Plane, "for there is 
a Superior Eden" we are told in the Kabbalah, "and an Inferior 
Eden," and that "Eden" means "Chokmah" (wisdom), so. the 
four rivers are rivers of wisdom, to water the four planes for the 
development of humanity. Pishon means sinking into a cleft, and 
is the one that waters the plane next to the one on which Eden 
is situated. Inferior Eden is on the Mental Plane, so Pishon 
must water the Astral. Gihon, the rushing roaring river, waters 
the Physical Plane, or the land of Cush, the black land. Hiddikel, 
we are told by the Bible Dictionary, is a river in Paradise, and so 
it is, for it waters the Mental Plane or the land of Assyria 
(Asshur son of Shem, Shem the Christ of the fourth root race). 
Euphrates, the great and abounding river, waters the Buddhic 
Plane, or the Universal Love Plane, the Plane of Unity. 

Here is the Promised Land of the race. The conquest of these 
four planes is to be its destiny, and this is the Promised Land 
always referred to in Scripture. 

"In the day that thou eatest" of the fruit of the tree of good 
and evil (try to learn by breaking law), "thou shalt surely die," 
or a better translation is, "thou shall lead a dying life," warns 
the good Lord Jehovah. 

In the rib story we find the Lord Jehovah providing an Astral 
body for humanity, and again He calls upon the Second Great 
Outpouring before the body can be made. This time the 
symbolism is somewhat different. The letter "Yod" is the 
symbol of the first person of the Trinity, also of the Monad. The 
shape of the letter "Yod" is something like a rib with a piece 
of the vertebra attached. The symbol is this: Adam was one 
"Yod," and the Lord Jehovah took another "Yod," or a Second 

41 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Outpouring of the Infinite at the side of Adam, and closed up the 
rent thereof. That is "Yod" joined to "Yod" makes the letter 
H, "Hevah," the symbol of the Second Great Outpouring. This 
word "Hevah" is translated "Eve" and really means the creative 
love wisdom manifestation, or the Second Outpouring, the form 
producing outpouring upon any plane. The Lord Jehovah called 
this production woman (Isshah) "whom God lends," or as one 
translator puts it "the completion of man." In other words, a 
body for man (humanity) to function in. 

Speaking of the Second Great Outpouring, Mr. Leadbeater, on 
page 30 of "Christian Creed," small edition, says: "On the 
downward arc of its mighty curve it simply aggregates round 
itself the different kinds of matter on the various planes, so that 
all may be accustomed and adapted to act as its vehicles. ' ' 

The "Kabbalah" says, page 334: "When the male is joined 
with the female they both constitute one complete body," and 
again, "when the Masculine and Feminine are joined together they 
appear to form only one body, and this is Arcanum ' ' ; again, ' ' The 
Mother H is joined to the King and is found to form one body 
with him." 

So evidently this episode is simply showing the providing of 
an Astral vehicle for the race to function in. 

"He shall leave his father and his mother" (the creative 
forces that have brought him here), "and cleave" to his Eve, his 
vehicles that he has entered, till he gets control of them. 

But he and his body were naked (of experience). 

Now comes the tempter, through this new strong desire body 
which is full of craving for sensation. Tame obedience does not 
give it the thrills it wants. 

The serpent is a symbol of wisdom. The brazen serpent is 
true wisdom; the black serpent, black art; but it always refers 
to wisdom of some sort, or a great teacher of some sort. So this 
teacher shows the young race how to get sensation by breaking law. 

The "Kabbalah" says: "When the inferior man descendeth 
(into this world) like unto the Supernal form (in himself) there 
are found two spirits, so that man is formed from two sides, from 
the right side and from the left side. With respect to the right 
side he hath the Holy Intelligences, with respect to the left side 

42 



THE STORY OF CREATION 

he hath the animal soul." (Here is the animal man was com- 
manded to sacrifice.) 

So when Adam said to Lord Jehovah, "The woman Thou 
gavest me she did it," he simply meant, this new body that You 
gave me, she did it and passed the experience on to me her 
higher self. 

By breaking the law humanity finds themselves so naked of 
experience that they know not what to do next, so they hide from 
Lord Jehovah in fear. Breaking the law has also blinded their 
clear sight upon the higher planes. When the Lord Jehovah 
comes they can see Him but faintly, and it seems as though the 
dusk of evening had settled down upon them, as indeed it had, 
because by breaking law they have densified matter and soon their 
sight of those higher planes will be cut entirely off. 

In the curse of the serpent we see the distinct cleavage of the 
Mental Plane. There will ever be a lower and a higher Mental 
Plane, although in a sense they are really one. The serpent, or 
teacher, or the Wisdom, is represented as creeping when mani- 
festing upon the lower Mental Plane. Of dust shall she eat, or 
of mental matter, and Humanity will now gain wisdom only as 
he stumbles over the serpent in hidden places and feels the pain 
of the experience. 

Unto woman, or the desire body (remember woman is the 
manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity upon any 
plane), "Thy desire shall be to thine husband" or thy higher 
self ("Thy maker is thine husband") "and he shall rule over 
thee." 

Unto Adam, "cursed" (or bound by the law of cause and 
effect), "is the ground for thy sake." That is, since you will 
have it so, you will have to learn to conquer this plane according 
to law. "In sorrow shalt thou eat of it, in the sweat" (or emana- 
tions) "of thy head shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the 
ground, for dust thou art, to dust shalt thou return." That is, 
by intellectual comprehension must he learn to get his bread 
according to law, for of dust, or of mental matter is he made, 
and to the Mental Plane must he return. And Humanity called 
his wife's name Eve because she was "the mother of all living," 
in the sense that she was the H, Hevah, the symbol of the Second 
Great Outpouring, the form producing outpouring, as stated else- 

43 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

where. ("In the beginning was the word and the word was with 
God and the word was God. Without Him was not anything 
made that was made." John i, 1. This is the great woman of 
Scripture. The great creative Love Wisdom Out Flow no matter 
where manifested. In this case it manifested as vehicles in which 
man could manifest. 

Humanity by gratifying desire, has sunken into animal bodies 
or, perhaps I should say, physical bodies. These bodies have been 
evolving up from the animal kingdom, so Lord Jehovah does not 
make any new ones now; He only wraps about them the skins of 
animals, their own skins, or circumscribes their development. 

H. P. B. says that the first men were very fluidic, but the day 
came when their development was definitely checked by a thicken- 
ing of the outer layers of the atoms of their bodies. I am not 
attempting to quote exactly, as I have not the book at hand. 

Man was driven out of the Garden of Eden by his own rebellion 
against law, and will only be able to return when by ages of 
experience he learns how to be able to grasp the handle of the 
sword of spiritual truth that he might have had by abiding in the 
law all of the time. 

And humanity knew Eve (became accustomed to his new 
vehicles), and they conceived and bare Cain Abel the dual- 
natured first really physical race, H. P. B. tells us. 

When Eve, the vehicle of humanity, brought forth the child 
she said, "I have gotten a man with IHVH"; that is, I have 
gotten a man with the Spirit of God within. 

Abel means Spirit, and Cain means Possessor. It is the dual- 
natured humanity. The first human race is born. Abel, the spiritual 
nature of man, naturally becomes a keeper of sheep or a teacher 
of the more evolved, and would gladly put his animal nature upon 
the altar in service to God; but Cain, the strongly physical Cain, 
will offer up the first fruits of the earth, or anything else, but 
his animal nature, never. When the Spirit within remonstrates he 
kills his Abel (Spirit) and buries it beneath the earth, or his dense 
physical. His animal propensities are in the ascendant. 

The curse is, because he has done this thing the natural law of 
cause and effect will force him to be a wanderer in the land ; that 
is, he will have to reincarnate many times in the physical body, 
and wander upon the Physical Plane, until he learns the lesson 

44 



THE STORY OF CREATION 

that his animal nature is his reasonable offering to God. It will 
take him ages to learn this lesson, hence the necessity of 
reincarnation. 

He dwelt in the land of Nod (wandering) on the east of Eden, 
on the side of intellectual understanding. 

And Cain knew his wife (became used to his new bodies), and 
brought forth a new sub race called Enoch, and the race Cain 
built a city and called it Enoch after the new sub race. 

Hindoo writings say that when the bodies were ready the most 
evolved of the egos who were coming down into incarnation refused 
to use them, and then the mindless ones rushed in. Probably 
these are the ones referred to in the Bible by the race Cain. It 
was no doubt the great Lemurian race. 

That these are the people is shown by that quaint old allegory 
of Lamech and his two wives (physical and astral bodies), Adah 
(ornament, physical body), Zellah (shadow, or astral body). 
Adah bare such as dwell in tents (have bodies), and Zillah bare 
Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass, and 
iron, or every instrument of destruction and judgment. Through 
desire cometh judgment and destruction. In this little poem we 
see violence ushered in. 

In Seth we have the great fourth root race. For nine hundred 
and thirty years these egos kept dropping into incarnation, and 
now men began to call upon Jehovah. 

In the genealogy of Seth that follows may be discerned the 
seven sub-races of the fourth root race, but space forbids our 
handling it at this time. 



45 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



CHAPTER V. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GENEALOGY OF SHEM, AND 
THE WORK OF ABRAHAM AND LOT. 

In the genealogy, by looking up the meaning of the personal 
nouns, we find a very different story told than the one seen at 
first sight. We have not the time to trace them at length, but 
note that Japheth settles the Coast Lands and becomes the traders 
of the race, the intellectual, material, strongly practical people. 

The sons of Ham settle in the Land of Shinar (the Land of 
Two Rivers) . Two rivers symbolize the consciousness of the people. 

The reader will remember that of the four rivers of Wisdom 
that flowed from the Garden of Eden, the two lower watered the 
Physical and Desire planes, so the people designated Ham live 
upon only the Physical and Emotional Plane. 

The allegory of the Tower of Babel (Gate of God) brings this 
out. 

The whole earth, we are told, were of one language (they 
understood the symbolic language), so the people of the Land of 
Two Rivers (Shinar) at once tried to discover the Mysteries for 
themselves although they had only brick (hardened physical 
natures) for stone (Masters of Compassion) and slime (low 
physical desires) had they for mortar (which should be universal 
love and wisdom). So they were deprived of the knowledge of 
the symbolic language to prevent their injuring themselves by 
handling holy things with impure hands, and bringing upon 
themselves the destruction that Atlantis had suffered for the 
same fault. 

We will trace the line of Shem, the second sub-race, as it 
gradually evolved during the ages. 

Remember Shem means "the name," and the race that 
descended from this line were the priestly class. The name of 
Shelah means petition or prayer, and from prayer is begotten 

46 



SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GENEALOGY OF SHEM 

Eber, or Heber, those who crossed over, or developed the new race 
characteristics. In Peleg we see division, the two races became 
markedly different, or possibly a new sub-race appears. Serug, 
a branch, begets Nahor, a snorter, a name sometimes used in 
India today for Yoga, and the Yoga begets Terah, which means 
station, or stopping place. 

We find Terah lives two hundred and fifty years in idolatry. 
Idolatry means the worship of an image. Man is made in the 
image of God, so idolatry meant primarily worship of self, or 
selfishness. 

Terah, this stopping place of selfishness, begets Abram, exalted 
father; Nahor, another Yoga, and Haran, a mountaineer, or high 
Initiate, one high in spirituality. 

Ur means God or light, Chaldea means intellectuality ; so when 
Abram was called from Ur of Chaldea he was called from the God of 
the intellect and goes to the land of Canaan (land of humility, 
low-lying land). From this land of humility he gradually mounts 
to Haran, or the spiritual heights, at which time Lord IHVH 
appears to him; Terah follows Abram to Haran but he dies on 
the spiritual heights — he cannot stand that altitude. Lord 
Jehovah, on the Manu, the manifestation of IHVH, appears to 
him and enters into an agreement with him that his seed shall 
cover the earth, but he must leave his kindred, or the stopping 
place of material intellectuality. 

Lot means wrapped in a veil or covering. He is the son of 
Haran the High Initiate, the grandson of Bethuel, the dweller in 
God, and nephew of the Yoga, Nahor. Lot evidently refers to the 
esoteric branch of a great religious system, as well as to the great 
hierophant who led it. Just who this Great One was I have not 
been able to quite determine from the information given us in 
the Bible, but if Abraham is Master Moro, then Lot must be 
Master Koot Hoomi, for Mr. Leadbeater shows those two leading 
great emigrations of the race southward in the "Lives." 

Legend tells us that Abram was a great prince. Some of the 
Legends of ancient Damascus claim that he at one time ruled that 
city for a time, coming along with an army and stopping quite 
a number of years, then taking his people he departed as he had 
come. The Arab and Mohammedan generally, believe that Abraham 
was one of their great leaders. To this day they call him 

47 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

El Khalil, friend of God. H. P. B. says Abram means no- 
Brahman, and also says he was a Manu, but does not state which 
Manu. It looks as though he were an understudy of the Great 
Manu, and I believe I am right in assuming that he is the same 
ego as we today reverence as Master Moro, the Manu of the coming 
sixth root race. 

To be sure, this demands that we shift the scene of Abraham's 
activities farther east than we have been wont to think of them, 
but this reading shows that these people really were living in the 
eastern or middle rather than western Asia. 

Lot, the Bible tells us, went with Abraham, the great leader 
of the people; and so did Sarah, his sister wife, or his inner 
school of wisdom or inner consciousness — at any rate, Mystery 
work of some sort. But, says some one, that is too far-fetched. 
My friend, turn to Gal. rv, 24, and on, "For it is written that 
Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the 
free woman * * * " Which things contain an allegory; for these 
women are two covenants, the one bearing children to the flesh 
and the other bearing children of the Spirit. I have used this 
quotation in another place, but there is no other quite so pertinent 
to the case in hand. 

Epiphanius Wilson, A. M., in his "Hebrew Literature," page 
22, says: "The Talmud says, 'Abraham is said to have put Sarah 
into a box when he brought her into Egypt, that none should see 
her beauty. At the custom house toll was demanded. Abraham 
said he was ready to pay. The custom house officer said, "Thou 
bringest bales?" He said, "I will pay for bales." They said, 
"Thou bringest gold?" He said, "I will pay for gold." They 
said, "Silk?" He said, "I will pay for silk." They said, "Thou 
bringest pearls?" He said, "I will pay for pearls." They said, 
"Thou must open the box"; whereon her splendor shown over 
the whole land of Egypt.' " Another version of this same story 
runs that Sarah flew out of the box and settled over all the land 
as a white mist, and Egypt was never the same again. Evidently 
it was well understood at one time that Sarah was not a woman 
but had something to do with Mystery work and Divine Wisdom. 

So Abraham, Lot, and Sarah and all the "souls" (notice, not 
"bodies") that they had gotten in Haran, the spiritual heights, 
go by the land of Canaan, or humiliation, to the place of Shechem, 

48 



SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GENEALOGY OF SHEM 

or mountain ridge of spiritual exaltation, to the ' ' Oak of Moreh, ' ' 
which means strong and exalted teacher. 

Here again, while on the spiritual heights, under a great 
teacher, IHVH appears to Abram, and promises him materia] 
blessings — all the land and the nations to cover it — all that Lord 
Jehovah could promise, as said before, for that was his part of 
the work of the Supreme — to look after the material welfare of 
the new race. Abram now erects an altar to Lord Jehovah — 
the Manu — the God of cause and effect, or he establishes a 
religion in which the great law of cause and effect is the key note, 
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. As a man soweth so must 
he also reap. The Hindoo calls this the law of Karma, and the 
Theosophist does likewise, it being a brief way of putting it. 

If you will look at the map of Palestine you will see that Ai 
and Bethel lie almost due north and south of each other, so that 
to camp with one on the east and the other on the west would be 
a physical impossibility. They were probably given their names 
from this very allegory. After having this religious experience 
we find Abraham pitching his tent, having Ai (heap of ruins) 
the effete fourth root race upon the east, and Bethel (the Temple 
of the Living God, or the perfected Man) on the west. He is 
dwelling between the last degenerate race and the future possi- 
bilities of the new race. And so we often find the patriarchs 
camping between Ai and Bethel, no matter where they may be, 
nor where they are going. Here again he builds an altar, or he 
sets up his religion in every camp he makes. He encourages 
religion wherever it is. 

There was a sore famine in that land, we are told; this refers 
to spiritual famine in this reading. They go down into Egypt. 
When they go down into Egypt it is a symbol of seeking the 
higher wisdom, for the Great White Lodge existed there for ages, 
and was sought by all who aspired to the higher learning; but 
when we find them in bondage to Egypt it means bondage of sin 
and ignorance, bondage to the land of Cush, the black land, or 
the physical. This time they are going after food (spiritual food). 
I cannot take the time to follow them upon this trip, but keep 
in mind that Sarah is simply the Mystery work, his higher con- 
sciousness, that Abraham wants to hide from the Egyptians. He 
wants her to appear as his sister, that is, does not want to admit 

49 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

how much he does know, wants his wisdom to appear as belonging 
to one of the lower classes; but the Egyptians discover his merits 
and would keep him. That was the custom of these schools; they 
tried to keep all the great hierophants in connection with their 
own school if they could, and the great school of Egypt is often 
called a "harlot" because of this propensity to accept truth from 
any source and make it her own. 

Very evidently Abraham and Lot and their followers went to 
Egypt to study. Occultists tell us that this great school was 
established before the destruction of Atlantis, and for ages and 
ages remained in the hands of the White Brotherhood, but some 
authorities say that at last it became corrupt and the Great Ones 
were obliged to withdraw from it, and Egypt became the home of 
black art. Mr. Leadbeater, however, speaks as though the Great 
White Lodge was still there. 

After leaving Egypt Abraham starts south, or towards the 
Spirit, — south symbolizes Spirit, — and again pitches his tent 
between Ai and Bethel, although miles south of the geographical 
position of the towns called by those names, between the past and 
the future possibilities of the race, and they have great possessions 
(spiritual possessions). 

Abram, remember, is the understudy of the Manu, and he is 
the great Law Giver of the people, the leader of the exoteric part 
of the religion, the leader of the masses. Lot, on the other hand, 
is in charge of the higher Mystery work, out of which the Initiates 
are to come. You will notice in the account that Abram sees 
angels and gets messages from God only when near great teachers 
(oaks at Mamre), while Lot sees and recognizes the angels at 
once that Abram entertained unawares. They were obliged to 
reveal their character to Abram; Lot knew them. Abram served 
them with the feast that symbolized the physical; Lot fed them 
on unleavened bread, the diet of the aesthetic. Abram 's wife, or 
inner work, is barren, — brings forth no Initiates, — he is too 
active upon the Physical Plane trying to help the race. The 
leaders of Lot's people, or his herdsmen, and the leaders of 
Abram 's people strive together, the exoteric and the esoteric 
sections cannot agree. This struggle has been common all through 
the ages, the blind always want the angels first, before they have 
developed the sight to perceive them when they do come. 

50 



SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GENEALOGY OF SHEM 

Because of the strife between their followers, the great leaders 
in perfect amity decide to part, and Abraham says, "Take your 
choice, your work is the most important. If you go one way 
then will I go the other. Our work is diametrically opposite ; I am 
working with IHVH descending, while it is your duty to guide it 
to conquest over the matter that I am helping to wrap about it. 
You ascend on the way back to the Father; I must see to the 
descending current. Both of us are children of the same Father, 
therefore let us not strive, for are we not brethren?" So each 
applies himself to his own work and they separate, in perfect 
friendliness. 

Lot decides to settle in the plains watered by the Jordan (the 
descending torrent) or the torrent of degenerate tendencies of the 
old race, in the cities of the plain, thinking, no doubt, that here 
he may do good with his work ; but the people, while they welcome 
him warmly, want the angels handed out to them at once. That is, 
they want to be taught white magic. Lot tells them, "Here are 
my daughters" (or his two lower classes). Study in them the 
allotted time and then you may hope for the higher work ; but no, 
they will have the angels, but when they come up against the 
house they find themselves blind. They cannot see the angels 
because of their gross natures. 

You will note that Lot has the three degrees of work, wife, and 
two daughters, and he seems to be able to talk to the angels. (He 
has occult training.) The angels advise Lot to seek a more retired 
spot for his work, and they leave the city, and seek the mountains 
for more quiet, or more safety while prosecuting his work upon 
higher planes. They start under the impulse given by the 
heavenly visitants, but Lot's wife, or his highest class of workers, 
his most consecrated ones, look back and are turned into a pillar 
of salt. Now salt means preservative, and pillar means a support 
of a structure, so a school of preservative wisdom supporting the 
Temple of Truth was left upon the edge of the land while the 
inhabitants were being consumed by the fire and brimstone of 
their own lust and material desires. 

Lot retires to the Cave of Initiation in the mountains after 
staying in Zoar, or city of humiliation, for a time, and his lower 
degree workers persuade him to take of the wine of spiritual 
ecstasy, and to go in to him separately because they are in differ- 

51 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

ent degrees of work, and they study with him, or "lie with him" — 
we have an echo of this usage in our "I lay to it till I accom- 
plished it — till they become one with him, or a wife to him, in 
wisdom, and are able to bring forth sons of wisdom, Initiates. 
One of them begets the great race called Moab, which at first was 
a school of wisdom that was named "Like unto his father," or 
like unto Lot, the greatest Hierophant of his times, and the other 
Benami, the father of Ammon, the spiritual mountaineer, sons 
of renown, or High Initiates, those upon the heights of spirituality. 
So here in the dawn of historic time we find a sweet story of love 
and self-sacrifice that makes one 's heart beat with renewed courage 
because of the assurance that the race has never been without a 
father, nor have the loving elder brothers ever been absent from 
the earthly family circle. Always have there been the younger 
children who have had their naughty spells, but ever have the 
loving elders cared for them, ever have they been guided, ever 
have there been schools to train them as soon as they would take 
the teaching. Does this not leave a sweeter taste in the mouth 
than the old reading that you were obliged to skip when the 
children were listening ? 



52 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 



CHAPTER VI. 

NOAH AND THE FLOOD. 

"The Theosophist notes in the study of a religion three 
elements: one due to primitive and faulty conceptions of natural 
phenomena; second, an element of fundamental truth which was 
implanted in it by a great religious teacher ; and, third, a theology 
raised on both long after the days of the founder of the religion. 
Noting these three elements in a religion, the Theosophist con- 
tinually searches for the second group of ideas, and when he finds 
these he finds that they are not so radically different from the 
same element to be found in the other religions." — C. J. in 
Primer of Theosophy." 

In the story of the Creation and the Flood the faulty concep- 
tion of natural phenomena has led to many serious misunder- 
standings, and the foolish chronology foisted upon the unsuspect- 
ing world by well-meaning ignorance has seriously added to the 
confusion. Science has for years contended that the Biblical 
chronology was not to be relied upon, and the Higher Critics 
some years ago showed that most of the older allegories show their 
Aryan origin and do not properly belong to Palestine, or to Jewish 
history, properly speaking, but the information raised such a hue 
and cry in the churches that the learned gentlemen who had 
advanced it subsided, without recanting, however, calmly waiting 
for the public mind to readjust itself to the changed view they 
had presented. Slowly but surely the ignorant bigot has retreated 
and intelligent understanding has advanced, until now few, even of 
the narrowest orthodox, hold to the chronology. In the last 
revision this ancient blunder was entirely discarded. 

Fortunately for the cause of truth, the personal nouns and 
names of geographical locations have usually been left unchanged 
by the many translators during the ages, and in these words we 
find the key note of the most of the allegories when we can find 

53 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

their real meaning. In some cases the word is so ancient that the 
original meaning has been lost, but one can usually locate it to 
some degree by some little indication that throws light upon the 
subject. A child may take the notion that the book he studies had 
been written and published in the town in which he was born, not 
knowing that it could have been done anywhere else, but that does 
not interfere with his getting the lesson that its pages hold for 
him. Had Washington not lived, ''Father of His Country" would 
not have any significance to us. These are the stories of the 
development of the great race to which we belong, not of one 
nation, and they really deal with things that happened, but just 
when they happened or just where they happened is not material ; 
it is the lesson they hold for us that is important. 

Intuition is one of the greatest of God's gifts to man, and it is 
one of the last of the faculties to develop, coming to its full 
growth only just before he finishes his compulsory earthly pilgrim- 
ages. These allegories are written in symbol to cultivate this 
wondrous gift and lead us to a complete at-one-ment with the 
Father. Consequently it is not surprising that at our stage of 
development we are only just beginning to sense the great riches 
lying just out of our reach. At best, at present, we are but catch- 
ing glimpses of the sparkling treasures. 

Occultists tell us that the great Manu, the Noah of our Bible, 
also the Moses, in one incarnation, began to select the most evolved 
of the great fourth root race, to start the new fifth root race 
during the fifth sub-race of the old race. In the Bible we find him 
also incarnated in Enoch (Initiator), begetting sons and daughters 
(spirtual sons and daughters in this reading), three hundred and 
sixty-five, note the number, the number of the days of the year, 
indicating that he worked to the full end of that race. The 
character of the Great One is indicated by the words, "And Enoch 
walked with God, and he was not for God took him." He was 
perfected in his Godhood, evidently a manifestation of a great 
perfected Soul. None of our own humanity had at that time 
attained that exalted position. 

At the beginning of the sixth sub-race he appears as Noah, 
"And Noah walked with God." He was a righteous man and 
perfect in his generations, not generation, but generations; that 
is, perfect through many, many lives. 

54 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 

He begets, or gathers about him, three distinct classes of 
peoples symbolized by Shem (the name), those of a spiritual 
nature; Japheth (the more evolved of the race upon the Physical 
Plane) ; and Ham (the remnant of the other races who are just 
sufficiently interested, probably for personal gain, to follow the 
others). 

In giving the allegorical reading, remember we in no way 
assail the fact of the occurrences having taken place ; in fact, had 
they not taken place they would have been worthless for this 
symbolic use. Had Napoleon not fought, a man's meeting "his 
Waterloo' would mean nothing to us, and we wo old not use the 
expression; and so with these stories. When they T #ere compiled 
probably they were illuminative because still comparatively fresh 
in the minds of the people either from legend, story, or experience, 
and to the Initiated explained the subjects satisfactorily. 

Let us consider for a moment what information from the 
Orient tells us of the home of the great fourth root race. We are 
told that they lived upon a continent now under the sea that 
formerly occupied the place now taken by the Atlantic Ocean; 
that they lived and thrived for many ages; that the race being in 
its childhood was lead by numerous Great Ones from the planet 
Venus, where evolution is much more advanced than it is here, 
and that under this guidance they attained a great state of civiliza- 
tion. But the time came when the great teachers were withdrawn, 
all except the great Manu, the Regent of the Great Moon Chain, 
and man was left to his own devices to gain the experience of 
governing himself and his own affairs. 

This was the time when the sons of God, or the descendants of 
Seth, went in unto the daughters of men, or the daughters of the 
third root race, those descended from Cain, probably the Lemu- 
rian race. 

The Bible says "there were giants in those days, which were 
mighty men of old, ' ' and the Occultists tell us that the Lemurians 
were as tall as twenty-seven feet, and that the Atlanteans were also 
very large. The Lemurians were dark colored, but the Atlanteans 
were white. A Hindoo book says that man became black because 
of sin. 

The fifth sub-race, from which Noah (Enoch) selected his 
people, was the one spoken of as Semitic, from the name Shem, to 

55 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

whom the Jews always pointed as their ancestor, and so he was, 
but no less was he the ancestor of us all. Shem had the double 
significance of referring to both a man and to his followers, and 
without doubt meant the Christ of the race, from the significance 
of the name. "The name" could refer to no one else. Noah, the 
great Manu, or lawgiver, and Shem, the Christ, together are shown 
leading the race to higher ideals. Shem is pictured as the son of 
the Manu, he always follows the Manu. The Manu gives the race 
the law and teaches them to be moral, then the Christ influence 
begins to slowly awake in them the higher ideals. 

Noah preached the way of righteousness, we are told, for five 
hundred years during the fifth sub-race as Enoch, but the people 
would not listen; then he takes his followers and leads them to 
the Ark. 

All tribes upon the face of the globe have a tradition of the 
flood, — a fine thing for an allegory, a historical fact that all under- 
stood and could be read literally, conveying a good moral lesson, 
but was suitable to convey a hidden spiritual meaning of much 
greater significance. 

All of these names have a collective as well as an individual 
meaning. Noah means rest, peace harmony, harmony with God, 
a state of consciousness, as well as the name of an individual, even 
as Christ is a state of consciousness as well as the name of our 
Great Brother. Theosophy says Noah was the Seed Manu, or seed 
fifth root race Manu. He was Vaivasvata Manu. He was an under- 
study of Lord IHVH, He was the great over Lord of the race in 
one sense, looking after their physical development; in another 
sense He was the animating spirit of the race, the race itself ; and in 
still another sense He was a perfect manifestation of the possibilities 
of the race. So much is hidden in this one word. 

In one sense Noah, the Great Hierophant, preached righteous- 
ness to the people of Atlantis, and those who believed in him 
segregated in the course of the ages in the north country, under 
the Pole Star, the "Imperishable Sacred Land" it is called in 
Theosophic literature. This took place, we are told, about one 
million years ago. The Occultists agree with science in the tremen- 
dous length of time covered by the terse account given in the 
Biblical records. Not that they agree exactly as to the number 

56 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 

of years, but both see the necessity for the assumption of many 
ages to accomplish the results. 

About eight hundred and fifty thousand years ago, Noah led 
them southward to Aryavarta, from whence they scattered in the 
course of ages. Science finds them in this neighborhood; that is, 
finds ancient remains that indicate the fact that they were there. 

"Ark" seems to have many meanings. The womb is some- 
times called an ark, in the sense of containing and protecting the 
life germ. Baby Moses is represented as being placed in an ark 
of bulrushes. The Ark of the Covenant was a box containing the 
law of God, and in this allegory a great ship is pictured. It 
would seem that the general meaning of a place for safe keeping 
of valuables might cover the ground perhaps better than any 
other. 

Let us look at this symbol a moment, and see if it really is a 
ship that is meant. May it not refer to the Imperishable North 
Land? First, the account says that the Land was filled with 
violence; the Hindoo accounts say that the strife between the 
black art and the Great White Lodge grew very fierce, and that 
the White Brothers and their followers were driven to the North 
Land while the Black Brotherhood completely took possession of 
the southern portion of the country. 

Noah is told to build the ark of gopher wood. The Smith 
and Peloubet "Bible Dictionary" says that gopher wood in the 
Bible means "any trees of the resinous kind," so let us say it 
meant to find a safe place among the pines and fir trees of the 
north, a high-lying land. The ark was to have three rooms on each 
floor, even as man has three manifestations of God upon each 
plane, and it was to have three stories, even as man has three 
planes of consciousness. It shall be three hundred cubits in 
length, or three sub-races shall be the length of their stay, during 
the sixth and seventh sub-race of the fourth root race, and during 
one sub-race of the great fifth that is being born. In breadth it 
shall be fifty cubits, symbolic of the cultivation of the fifth race 
type. So the dimensions indicate the length of their stay, the 
characteristics they are to develop, and the three planes of the 
consciousness of the race. A "light" shalt thou make; the margin 
says a "roof." Strange that these two meanings should have 
been deemed a window. No other windows are mentioned. Would 

57 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

it not seem more probable that the "light" that could be read 
"roof" may mean establish a vibration by which the light of God 
may pour, sheltering the people from harm? A light and a 
shelter. A door there was; that is, there was communication 
between the two forces for awhile, but the day came when the 
Lord Jehovah sealed them up, and pitched the door; that is, put 
a stop to all communication between the two peoples. Those in the 
care of Noah were informed that there was danger for them in the 
low-lying lands, and they kept inside their ark, or their place of 
refuge, their highland home. 

If we read the account literally, we must take it that Noah, 
Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives cruelly left their children 
to drown, but if it means that Noah was to take the three classes 
of people that had listened to him and their schools of wisdom, 
or their religious work, to another land, then the difficulty clears up. 

He is to take the three classes of people who are represented 
as sons, and also seven or the perfect number of all clean animals, 
or some of each species, so they may not become extinct, and two, 
the creative dual, of the unclean animals. All sorts of living 
things must he take the pains to hold up in his northern region, 
for some of them being native to the low-lying lands would not 
stay unless forcibly detained. So Noah, the Great Manu whose 
duty it is to care for the physical well being of the race, took all 
these people, all these animals and creeping things into his ark, 
or his high-lying land under the Pole Star, and there he kept them 
while the great continent of Atlantis sank, and the ark, the land at 
the north, rose upon the face of the waters. As the continent 
went down the other land rose still higher. Ararat means high- 
lying land, or Holy ground, and the first thing Noah does is to 
build an altar, or establish a religion. The raven, the bird of ill- 
omen, is set loose and does not return, but the dove of peace re- 
turns and upon her second arrival carries an olive leaf, another 
symbol of the peace that is now established by the great cataclysm 
that has made all men brothers because of their common danger, 
and the great object lesson they have received of the danger that 
lies in rebellion against the powers of good. 

Noah began his work of segregation in the fifth sub-race and is 
six hundred years old when the flood comes, or it is in the sixth 
sub-race that it comes. 

58 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 

Noah, upon establishing his religion, offers up burnt, or 
spiritual, offerings of all the things of the earth. He did not kill 
to do this; killing animals came long afterward, when men forgot 
the symbolic language and began to read these things literally. 

God, in return, blesses Noah and tells him that man shall 
subdue all things, that every moving thing shall be meat, or shall 
supply your necessities, not to eat, because in the next clause of 
the same sentence we read, "the green herb have I given you all. 
But flesh with the life thereof which is the blood thereof shall ye 
not eat. ' ' Gen. ix, 3 and 4. 

Then the covenant is entered into by God (symbolically, of 
course) that the race shall not be again destroyed by water. The 
Occultists tell us that water and fire take turns in bringing about 
the great race clean-ups and that the next will be by fire. 

With the descendants of the three sons we are told the whole 
earth overspread, Shem, in one sense the Christ of the race, in 
another sense the most spiritual of the people, and his wife, or 
their inner school of Mysteries; Japheth, the normal, well- 
developed people of the race, the Material Plane, intellectual class 
of people who also had a wife or Mystery work that was not so 
advanced as that of Shem, for the latter seem to have started 
the priesthood of the race. Ham also had a wife or something 
that represents to the lower class of humanity an inner or esoteric 
work. All of the ancient religions had this as a part of the 
regular work, although it was according to the plane of the people 
how advanced the work would be. Ham means hot, or lustful, 
and the Hindoo scriptures say that man turned black because of 
sin. Evidently Ham was the remnant of the ancient races of 
different kinds that were not as evolved as the race called Japheth. 
They have no spiritual understanding, to speak of, for they laugh 
at Noah when he is presented to their eyes in spiritual ecstasy 
(or drunkenness). 

Chapter ix, 20 of Genesis begins an allegory that brings another 
conception of Noah, a deeper and more mysterious meaning. Here 
it is not the man Noah that is represented in one sense of the 
allegory, and in another sense it is. Noah began to raise grapes, 
the fruit of the Spirit, and became drunken in his tabernacle, and 
was uncovered, or naked. Ham saw and told his brothers, looked 
unabashed by the sight because of lack of finer feelings. 

59 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

In one sense the Great Hierophant, intent on spiritual things, 
in spiritual ecstasy, naked of possessions, is supplied by Shem the 
priesthood, and Japheth the people, walking backward, or unosten- 
tatiously, while the lower class people deride; but the other mean- 
ing shows another conception. 

In the light of H. P. B., who defines Noah in one sense as the 
"seed of the fifth root race, the seed Manu, or man; Webster 
says: "The seed is the embryo and its envelope, or envelopes, that 
from which the plant grows." So Noah, the Great Guardian of 
the race, is cultivating spirituality in the race (growing vine- 
yards), and the seed Manu is naked in its tabernacle, the germ of 
the new race is not yet clothed about with the vehicles that it is 
to use, but Shem cultivates the Soul, or mental body, and Japheth 
furnishes the astral and physical body without seeing what they 
are doing (going backward). The physical is God's back. Ham 
has no conception of what is going on. The symbolic curse is 
simply a prophecy: 

"Cursed," or tied by the karma of his lack of development, 
will he be. "A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren, ' ' 
while "Blessed be IHVH the God of Shem" (the God within, 
which is building up the soul of Shem) . 

"Canaan" (or Ham) "shall be their servant." 

' ' God enlarge Japheth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, ' ' 
that is, come into the spiritual consciousness of Shem. 

And let Canaan, in one sense the lower nature, be servant of 
both of the higher planes of development. 

And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years, 
or he kept in physical touch with the race three and one-half 
sub-races. The flood took place in the sixth sub-race and he 
stayed with them through the sixth, seventh, and the first of the 
fifth root race, until half of the second sub-race had passed, 
when he withdraws for a time from their physical sight. 

Let us quote from ' ' The Pedigree of Man, ' ' page 138 : ' ' About 
a million years ago Vaivasvata Manu chose out of the fifth 
Atlantean sub-race the Semitic, the seeds of the fifth race, and 
led them to the Imperishable Sacred Land. For ages he labors 
shaping the nucleus of future humanity. There the fifth sense 
is added and man is shaped as we know him. Thither he guides 
for rebirth the Asuras, to nobler ends. Thither he calls the 

60 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 

brightest intelligences, the purest characters, to take birth in the 
forms he is evolving. When he had established the type of his 
race, he led them southward to Central Asia, and there another 
age-long halt was made 'from which in the course of ages several 
streams issued. Of these emigrations we will speak in another 
chapter.' " 



61 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TWO COVENANTS 
OF ABRAHAM. 

Let us look at the two covenants of Abram and see what we 
find in the symbolic reading. Remember we do not for one 
moment assume that Abram was not a real personage, for we 
know that he was, and believe that in him we identify the Master 
Moro that to the Theosophist means so much. But the allegories 
have spiritual meanings that bring out definite stages in the 
development of the race as well as the development of the in- 
dividual of whom it was primarily written. 

Noah (if we are right), being the great seed Manu of the 
fifth root race, and Abraham the coming Manu of the sixth root 
race, serving under his great leader, then the stories of Abram 
stand out with startling clearness. 

The reader will remember that Abram has just returned from 
rescuing Lot from his captivity in the mountain. Undoubtedly 
from the meaning of the names used, this was a great religious 
struggle, and Lot had gone into retirement upon spiritual heights. 
The word is brought to Abram as he is dwelling with the "oaks," 
or strong teachers of "Mamre." Now note, he takes 318 men of 
his household, — 318 is the number of Jesus, and indicates purifica- 
tion, — he takes as his allies Mamre (manly), Eschol (courage), 
Aner (youth). So he takes purity (318), manliness, courage and 
youth, and he divides his forces at night, or leaves his physical 
body and goes out in his astral body to Lot to plead for his return 
to the lower plane people. All through the ages we see the Manu 
in his love for the common people pleading for the great spiritual 
leaders not to hide themselves in monasteries, but to stay among 
the people for teachers. He prevails and brings Lot back to the 
cities. When the king of Sodom, or the Physical Plane, tries to 
reward him he uses a figure of speech that Roberts tells us is still 

62 



THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TWO COVENANTS OF ABRAHAM 

commonly used in India today, which shows the locality from 
which the story is derived: "I will not take a thread or a shoe- 
latchet," or the price of a worn sandal thong. But he wants 
due reward given to youth, bravery and manliness, which is the 
real cause of the spiritual opportunity being given them. 

On the way back he meets Melchizedek, "King of Righteous- 
ness," "Prince of Peace." The ancient Jews claimed that Mel- 
chizedek was a son of Shem. A reincarnation of a person is 
sometimes spoken of as a son. Undoubtedly Melchizedek was an 
incarnation of Shem, or of the Buddha, while he was serving as 
the Bodhisattva, or the Christ, of the fourth root race. Abraham 
offers tithes to this Great One, who is spoken of as being a High 
Priest forever, without beginning of life or end of days, and of 
whom it was spoken when it was said of our Christ, "He shall 
be an High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Mel- 
chizedek blesses Abraham in the name of El Elion (God the 
Mighty One), and Abram speaks of his protector being the Lord 
Jehovah ; that is, he is a Manu and he bows before the Christ. 

While he is with the great teachers he has a vision in which 
the Lord Jehovah appears to him and promises him all the land, 
or all the physical world, for his seed, and the people to cover it. 
The reader will notice that at this covenant the slain bodies of 
animals are used to signify that it is a Physical Plane contract, 
and that his animal nature must be offered up to God, (Heiffer) ; 
his rebellious sins (goat) ; and work in harmony with the Christ 
(ram), the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the 
world; to transmute the lower nature into the higher spiritual, 
as symbolized by the turtle dove (IH, creative wisdom of higher 
planes) ; and pigeon (the symbol of creative energy of lower 
planes, VH.) 

It is really a covenant to conquer his lower nature and assist 
man to reach the point where he will look to the Christ for 
assistance to reach the goal of victory over the flesh. 

His heirs, or his great fellow laborer, or laborers, ultimately shall 
come from his line, Isaac (an incarnation or a type of Him who is 
afterwards known as Jesus), and Jacob (afterwards known as the 
Christ). Here is the Trinity of the Great Ones who are to assist 
humanity through its long journey on the way to its eternal destiny, 
the Manu of the sixth root race; Jesus, a type of the Masters (the 

63 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

help of Jehovah) ; and Christ the Bodhissattva (Messiah) of the 
fifth root race. At the time of this covenant the Great Manu of the 
fifth root race is in charge of things of the VH degree of work, 
and the Buddha is filling the office of the Christ in the H degree. 

This prophecy is brought out in verse 13, "Know of a surety 
that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs"; 
that is, shall live in the land of the fifth root race for a time, for 
four hundred years, or through four sub-races, will the sixth 
root race be living among the fifth race people who will not 
understand or will afflict them, but they will come out of the 
fifth root race with great substance (great wisdom), "And in the 
fourth generation they shall come hither again." That is, the 
sixth root race will begin to differentiate from the fifth root race 
in the fifth sub-race, and they will stay among the fifth root race 
until the first sub-race of the sixth root race is completed, then 
that will bring them up to the point of development in the new 
race that you Abraham represent now. And a smoking furnace, 
symbolic of the physical, and a flaming torch, symbolic of the 
spiritual, passed between the pieces, consummating the covenant 
after the ancient fashion. Now comes another promise and 
another covenant; this time it is not the material things that 
Jehovah sees, but because of all that this covenant implies He 
foresees that the true inheritance of the seed of Abraham will be 
all the land, or planes of consciousness between the river of 
Egypt, or the river of wisdom on the Physical Plane, and the 
great and abounding river, the river Euphrates, the wisdom of 
the Buddhic Plane. In other words, they shall ultimately con- 
quer all of the planes of consciousness. It is the destiny of the 
fifth root race to fully develop the mental faculties, destined for 
this round, but the sixth root race will develop the higher mental 
and Buddhic faculties. 

Sarai (my princess) is yet in the bondage of the flesh, so of 
her handmaid Hagar is born Ishmael, the child of the flesh, destined 
not to be circumcised, or to begin purifying his vehicles till the race 
reaches puberty; but his time will also come, so that his hand 
will no longer be turned against every man and every man's hand 
against him, because his mother, or his race, at once starts for 
the well of wisdom in the wilderness of ignorance, and "Jehovah 
seeth, yea and Jehovah careth for them, and will truly bring them 

64 



THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TWO COVENANTS OF ABRAHAM 

forth into the promised land in due season." (They will also be 
brought into full consciousness of all the planes in due time.) 

Ishmael was born when Abraham was four-score, perfected 
quarternary, symbolic of the perfected physical, and six, symbolic 
of physical but balanced karma. But when he was ninety years 
old and nine, here the triplicities are suggested in the age, three 
threes, and three threes, suggesting complete development of the 
triune nature; at this time he has another vision. This time it 
is El Shaddai, the Almighty God, the God of the higher 
planes, who speaks. Abraham is old, therefore symbolically pure. 
He has conquered the animal propensities, and is here given a 
second Initiation, for he receives his new name. Abram becomes 
Abraham, and Sarai becomes Sarah. "Be thou perfect" is the 
command. The Great One will give him the "land of his sojourn- 
ing," the land of Canaan, or the four planes of consciousness for 
his inheritance. His covenant is to be an everlasting covenant, 
and the sign of this covenant is not slain animals but circum- 
cision, a sign of purification. 

Abram exalted Father becomes Abraham the father of multi- 
tudes; Sarai becomes Sarah, free princess, a princess no longer 
bound by the physical, but free to bring forth the child of the 
Spirit, the happy, laughing Isaac; happy because of the prospect 
of the happy upward tendency of the race. He is happy because 
he can be of service to the race. He, the help of Jehovah, is to 
train the race to develop the purity of life that will enable them 
to give birth to the Christ Child in the cave of their hearts. 
Happy, laughing Isaac, ultimately to become the scapegoat of the 
race in the most literal manner. I am assuming, of course, that 
Isaac was an incarnation of the entity whom we call Jesus. To 
my mind this is plainly indicated by the fact that Abraham cir- 
cumcised 318 men in his household, the number of Jesus. Isaac, 
Jesus is the Spiritual son of Abraham, and Jacob (Christ), of 
Jesus. The Manu, or Abraham, is the manifestation of IHVH in 
the flesh, in the VH department of work; Jesus develops the 
H, or the higher creative energy, or wisdom; and Christ brings 
the father I, God into the Trinity of Manifestations, making the 
perfect whole, IHVH, Jehovah, the perfected Christ, the Messiah. 
God limited Himself to manifest. In Christ he has conquered 

65 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

matter, and is God free from fetters if he choses to be. He sits upon 
the right hand of the Father Almighty. 

Jehovah in Abraham, is willing to place his beloved Isaac 
upon the altar in perfect consecration, and Isaac carries the 
wood willingly, the material to make the fire of the Spirit on the 
Mount of Initiation that shall consume his own lower nature, not 
then understanding the sacrifice that will be required. Abraham, 
when asked by Isaac where was the lamb, said God would Himself 
provide the lamb, and then taking the boy he put him upon the 
altar; but the physical life was not to be taken at that time, so 
another lamb was provided, symbolizing the fact that the lamb 
that was slain from the beginning of the world, the IHVH, was 
again consecrated, and this time to the second stage of its develop- 
ment in the flesh. The Master Isaac (Jesus) is not to die, but is 
to live all through the ages for the assistance of the race, teaching 
them to provide pure vehicles to bring forth the Christ. "And 
he shall be satisfied: By the knowledge of himself shall My 
righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniqui- 
ties." (Not in the sense of relieving them of their responsibility, 
but in the sense of sympathizing and assisting when possible.) 
"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great" (He will 
make him one of the Great Ones who manifest the Trinity of 
God in the flesh, for the assistance of the race) ; "and he shall 
divide the spoil" (or the fruit of such service) "with the 
strong" (with Lord Jehovah and Christ) ; "because he poured 
out his soul unto death" (held it here in the lower regions for 
the sake of the race), "and was numbered among the trans- 
gressors; yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for 
the transgressors." Isaiah vni, 11,12. 

How true, how beautifully true this is when we read it right. 
How heavy a load the dear Lord Jesus has borne. Think of the 
Spanish Inquisition and all of the other atrocities that have been 
done in His name. All through the ages has He worked in this 
middle place in the great scheme, trying through the exoteric 
religion to guide man to the realization of his true destiny, the 
development of the IHVH life within him. May the Infinite 
One reward this child of the Spirit, this fruit of Abraham's last 
covenant, according to His marvelous deserts. We will handle 
this life more at length in another chapter. 



MOSES 



CHAPTER VIII. 

MOSES. 

As one ponders upon the allegories dealing with Moses guiding 
the great Aryan race, one is impressed with the wonderful depth 
of mystic meaning hidden behind the symbols, meanings so rich, so 
full of significance that one scarcely knows where to begin, or what 
to select from the wealth of riches, to bring before the reader 
anything like a comprehensive idea of the whole, in the space at 
our disposal. At best we can hope to touch but the high places, 
and possibly to place in the hand of the reader the golden key 
that will open to him the doors concealing the vision splendid. 
Just in proportion as he purifies himself, and turns it with clean 
hands, with a heart full of holy aspiration, and a mind steadied 
by meditation, will the vision open before him. The writer makes 
no pretense of having gained more than a glimpse, but that 
glimpse has convinced her that nothing else can compare with 
the glory that is hidden from our gaze by our own impurity, and 
that no sacrifice is too great to secure a closer view of the wonders 
of the Temple of God. 

Some remarkable symbols are used in these allegories, symbols 
as old as humanity itself. In a former chapter it was mentioned 
that IHVH were the symbols representing the Trinity of mani- 
festations of God, and that these four letters are sometimes used 
to designate the Three Great Streams of creative activity as they 
flow; sometimes to designate one of the three Great Ones, the 
Lord Jehovah, He who looks after the first of the three stages of 
man's evolution, that signified by the letters VH; and sometimes 
used to designate the Spirit in the heart of man, as when Eve, 
the physical body of humanity, said, "I have gotten IHVH" 
(Jehovah), or, I am completed by IHVH. 

As we have said before, the letters VH stand for a stage in 
the evolution of man. The incarnating Spirit, the Ego, descends 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

through the elemental kingdoms of the Buddhic, Mental, and 
Astral planes of matter, and enters the human body. It is looked 
after during this stage by the great Lord Jehovah. The Hindoo 
calls this Great One the Manu, the ancient Hebrew called him also 
Noah and Moses. He is allegorically shown as guiding the race 
up to the time when man reaches the place where he says, "I am 
tired of the husks of desire, I will arise and go to my Father." 
The Lord Jehovah has assisted him to gain a perfect body in 
which to manifest, containing a brain of almost unlimited 
possibilities, and He has provided the child race with an environ- 
ment that will develop this intellect that lies dormant, within him. 
We note that He ever tries to keep spiritual teachers among His 
young races, and also tries to make their experiences as little 
painful as possible to give the needed lessons. Remember how 
He pleads, as Moses, for the children of Israel when they sin. He 
provides them with a simple code of morals (if read literally, and 
the child race ever reads literally), that develops the moral nature 
and cultivates the intellect. At last, however, the day comes when 
the IHVH (the God), in the heart of man, ever crying for fuller 
expression, impels man to say ' ' I will arise and go to my Father. ' ' 
Then it is that the Lord Jehovah, Manu, Moses lays his hands 
upon Joshua, Jesus, or whoever may happen to be serving in that 
department, the second stage of the development of man, sym- 
bolized by the letter H, signifying the creative love wisdom of 
the higher planes. The work of this stage is to train the man to 
build up a soul, or causal body, fit for the birth of the Christ 
Child in his heart, for the Christ is ever of immaculate conception, 
descending as a dove of peace from above, and vivifying the latent 
spiritual atoms of the inner IHVH, so they may become active. 

The "I," the Hebrew letter "Yod," symbolizes the third stage 
in the development of man, and is represented to us in perfection 
of manifestation by the Great One whom we call the Christ. There 
was a day in our Scripture, however, when the entity whom we 
know as the Christ had not yet attained the exalted height that 
He now occupies, and His advance along the line of promotion is 
shown in some of the allegories. 

As Jacob He had conquered with God, and received His new 
name; in the first of the Moses allegories we find Him incarnating 
as the brother of the Manu (Moses), and serving as priest Aaron, 

68 



MOSES 

in the second, or H department of work. The two take Hebrew 
(Heber, passed over) parentage (or those who had passed over 
the line into the new fifth race) of the priestly caste (the tribe 
of Levi). River symbolizes wisdom, while Pharaoh is a symbol 
of power, or dominance, and the daughter of the king is a class of 
the inner or Mystery work of the time, a manifestation of the H, 
the creative love wisdom. The double meaning of the symbols 
is plainly seen here. Moses is an incarnation of the Great One 
come into the flesh to assist man in his development, but he is also 
just as truly a type of humanity in the development of the 
physical, mental and moral natures of the vehicle he occupies in 
that incarnation. The Kabbalah says Moses was perfect from his 
birth, and Theosophy says the Manu was perfected on the Moon 
Chain. This idea is brought out by the Kabbalah in the numerical 
significance of Moses, 345, or God's back; while God's face is 543, 
and the sum of God's back and God's face is 888, or the number 
of the Christ. This indicates that humanity and God perfectly 
harmonized makes a Christ; the perfect union of God and man. 
Spirit the positive pole, and matter the negative pole is perfectly 
balanced. All is God. "Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one 
God," says Moses; "There is no God but God," proclaims the 
Mohammedan; "The Lord, before and beyond whom there is no 
other," affirms the Zoroastrian; "One only, without a second," 
says the Hindoo ; " In Him we live and move and have our being, ' ' 
says the Christian; "The Father and I are One," says the Christ. 
Many selves all fragments of the One Great Self, subhuman, 
human and superhuman, and therefore destined to perfection, and 
when that perfection is reached we shall have unity, Christ, 888. 

Stop a moment and see how much is expressed by those three 
figures. The quaternary symbolizes the perfected physical, the 
Trinity the perfected God, and duality is a symbol of the Second 
Logos, so in these three figures we have the dual quaternary, 
repeated three times, the perfect Trinity, the perfect physical 
united in the Wisdom of the Second Manifestation of the Trinity. 

We will keep in mind that the symbols have the double mean- 
ing of referring to the typical experiences of humanity, as well as 
of giving those of the entity incarnated in the body that we call 
Moses. It is significant that the Hindoo word signifying this 
individual is Manu, or man, and we have just shown that the 

69 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Hebrew Kabbalah shows this same conception by the number 345. 
For the sake of simplicity and because of lack of space we will 
handle Moses in the singular, leaving it to the reader to trace the 
similitude of the experiences of the Great One to that of the race 
in general. 

Keep in mind that not only the man, but the fifth root race is 
meant by Israel or Jacob, Jacob the race unregenerate, Israel after 
the spiritual develops; Judah, symbolic of the Jews, Esau and 
Ishmael and their descendants the fourth and a half root races, 
the race between the old Atlanteans and the new fifth root race, 
and that any of them may be called Hebrews, or those who 
crossed over into the new race. Pharaoh stands for the dominance 
of the physical, and Egypt means the Physical Plane except when 
referring to Mystery work, then it stands for the home of the 
Great White Lodge. When "in bondage to Egypt," then the 
Physical Plane is meant, but when the party voluntarily "goes 
down into Egypt," then the White Lodge is sought. 

Moses drawn out of the river of Wisdom by the orders of a 
daughter of Pharaoh, a class of Mystery work, comes to the point 
that he realizes the bondage of Egypt (or the flesh), and in trying 
to protect the Hebrew (develop the characteristics of the new 
race), he kills the Egyptian, or possibly conquers his lower nature. 
Such a radical step is not understood by those about him, and he is 
made to feel that his life (his spiritual life) is in danger if he 
remains among the crowd, so he betakes himself to a well of 
wisdom. Jethro, a priest of Midian, is this well of wisdom, who 
has just what Moses is after. He understands the sciences of the 
higher planes, which are called his "seven beautiful daughters." 
Moses studies with him and marries, or masters one of them so 
perfectly that he is given that part of the work to carry on him- 
self, for we are told that he herded Jethro 's sheep on the hill- 
sides. He taught his people on the spiritual heights. 

An ancient Hebrew book says that Jethro was an incarnation 
of the essential spirit of Abel, which shows the reverence in which 
this man was held, for name Abel means spirit, breath, and indicates 
the nature of the man who could be conceived as being an incarna- 
tion of him. 

When on the mountain of spirituality, Moses hears the voice 
of "I AM THAT I AM" from a burning bush. As bush sym- 

70 



MOSES 

bolizes a teacher, and as burning would indicate spirituality, it 
may mean that it was a great spiritual teacher through whom 
Moses received his call to service, although it is not at all neces- 
sary, for one so highly evolved as Moses could have communed 
personally with higher forces. 

He is told to remove his shoes, as the ground whereon he 
stands is holy; the Oriental always removes his shoes before enter- 
ing a temple, so this is a symbol of reverence. He is called to 
service of a new kind in Chapter 6-3, El Shaddai IHVH of higher 
planes, explains that he has hitherto appeared to the people 
only in his power aspect, exacting only their obedience to physical 
laws, but now the time has come for them to realize the fuller 
significance of Jehovah, and He is about to reveal His love and 
wisdom aspect. Heretofore the VH aspect has been in control. 
Spirit has been descending and gathering vehicles about Himself 
ready to manifest, but now the time has come for Spirit to start 
upon its homeward journey toward the GOD who sent it forth. 
Spirit ascending calls upon thee, Moses, to assist him to get out 
of the bondage of the flesh. 

"But," says Moses, "how can I with uncircumcised lips do 
this thing?" This body is now thoroughly awake as to the great 
ego that it holds, and the great work he has been doing throughout 
the ages. How can I, who have worked in the physical vibration to 
enable Spirit descending to gather about itself proper vehicles in 
which to manifest? How can I do this other work that will tend 
to undo much that I have done? I have taught man to gather to 
himself material necessities; now he must be taught not to prize 
the very things for which he has trained himself to exert his 
greatest efforts. This new work belongs to the H, or love and 
wisdom department of the work. How can I do the two? So the 
Voice tells him to get his brother Aaron (an incarnation or type 
of the one we know as Christ), and he will attend to this part of 
the work, — but Moses is to show that the perfected physical recog- 
nizes that this is the natural destiny of man, and is to lead the 
race to a strong moral understanding that will help the priestly 
offices of Aaron to be effective. 

Moses, we are told, was four-score years old, a perfected quater- 
nary, or physical, and Aaron was four-score and three, a quaternary 
topped by the triangle, or the spiritual triad. 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Aaron, although he is the entity whom we call the Christ today, 
served in that incarnation in the capacity that Jesus is serving in 
today, that of teaching man to purify his vehicles and build up his 
soul preparatory to the birth of the Christ Child in his heart, or 
the First Great Initiation. 

Moses starts to do as commanded, and here we have that in- 
comprehensible passage, when read literally, in Ex. iv, 24, ''And 
it came to pass on the way, at the lodging place, that Jehovah 
met him and sought to kill him. ' ' Then Zipporah took a flint and 
circumcised her son, so He let him alone. Strange, very strange, 
that God should seek to kill one who is starting to do just as he 
has been directed to do; surely none will gainsay that this must 
be an allegory hiding some esoteric secret. 

But if we accept Zipporah as a method of scientific instruction 
in unfoldment, according to old-time Mystery work methods, then 
the two sons begotten by her would simply be students, or 
Initiates. Let us look at the meaning of the words a moment. 
Zipporah — "little bird," — a bird is a symbol of the creative 
energy of the Trinity: ' ' Gershom, ' ' — we find that the Gershomites 
were the priestly family descended from the son of Levi. 

Now remember that Moses sat himself down by the well of 
wisdom, and the seven daughters (called the Shining Ones in some 
ancient books) came to draw, to water their father's flock, or they 
came to give of the water of wisdom to the people. There were 
other teachers who opposed their system, but Moses upheld them. 
Some esotericists claim that Jethro's daughters were the seven 
sciences, some that they were the science of mastering the 
seven planes. At any rate, they referred to learning of some 
kind, undoubtedly. So this passage in the fourth chapter, 24 to 
the 27th verses, may easily mean that when Moses started to do 
God's bidding, the Jehovah within himself said to him, I will kill 
your lower nature, and he struggled to have that done, and, at the 
same time, taught Gershom, or the priestly class of the people, the 
science of purification according to the system of Zipporah. Cir- 
cumcision was always a symbol of purification. 

"A bridegroom of blood art thou because of the circumcision," 
she is represented as saying; that is, thou shalt bring the people, 
humanity, people of blood, Physical Plane people, up to the point 
of purification. Thou art a bridegroom of humanity upon the 

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MOSES 

Physical Plane. Thou art married to humanity until their purifica- 
tion is accomplished. 

That the two sons were spiritual sons is admitted by many, 
from the fact that they disappear from the genealogical records, 
and no further mention is made of them in Scripture as Moses' 
sons. At his death it is Joshua, and Eleazar, Jesus and Master 
K. H. who go up into the mountain with him. Aaron has passed 
from earthly view just before, and Zipporah is never mentioned 
after Jethro comes to visit Moses, and they take communion 
together. 

The episode of circumcision takes place just before he goes 
up on the Mount of God to meet Aaron, surely a fitting time to 
let the God within get complete mastery, a fitting struggle to 
enable him to mount the spiritual height that may be called the 
Mount of God. 

Moses and Aaron meet in love with kisses, and both proceed 
together to go down into Egypt, or to the Physical Plane people, 
to teach them the lessons they are sent to teach. 

Pharaoh, or the dominant physical tendencies of the race, 
scorns the message at first, and only as the miracles, one by one, 
show them the danger of the course they are pursuing, are they 
convinced and realize the necessity of going a three-day journey 
to worship God, or taking the three stages of purification, the 
purification of body, of desire body, and of mental body, to build 
up a soul in which the Christ Child can manifest. 

All of the miracles teach the same lesson, that if the creative 
energy that is pouring through them be used in blessing to others 
then it will create in blessing to the race, but man is a free will 
being and can poison the stream at its source if he so chooses, and 
can transmute this great creative force into a curse. It is the 
nature of this force to create, but it lies with him whether the 
portion allotted him shall flow out in constructive creation, or 
whether it shall become a destructive force bringing forth all sorts 
of pests to torment mankind, causing all sorts of disease bacteria, 
and all sorts of inharmonies in nature that bring pain upon man. 
This force flows out in whatever work we do. The motive decides 
the result. 

Let us take a hasty glance at the miracles. It is a tempting 
place to linger, but we must not take too much space. 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Serpents, the reader will remember, have always been used as a 
symbol of wisdom, and the word is often a symbol of a wise 
teacher. Aaron 's serpents swallow those of the wise men ; that is, 
the wisdom of Aaron comprehends all that the materialistic 
teachers can set forth, and has so much more that the materialistic 
arguments are lost. 

Rivers are symbolic of wisdom; rivers turned into blood, 
wisdom denied by the blood of innocent animals, when true wisdom 
calls for the sacrifice of the animal nature of man upon the altar 
of devotion. 

The emanations of man sent out with selfishness as his con- 
trolling motive brings forth pests (lice) that because of the nature 
he has given them, feed upon him, destroying his peace. Flies 
are also symbolic of the offspring of filthy habits. Even the 
poor animals will suffer from the bacteria (murrain) brought into 
existence by the selfish disregard of God's law that unregenerate 
man indulges in. 

Death of the first born, shows that the creative energy must 
create, but if it be poisoned by selfish motives, then it turns 
inward, instead of flowing outward, in all sorts of creative 
activities that bless others; and being so strongly creative it 
creates destructive agents in his own system that tend to destroy 
him. Thus the eldest born of Egypt, those who will not turn from 
the selfish course, will die; while the first born of Israel, the 
spiritual minded of the race who are willing to sprinkle the 
blood, or the life of the Christ, the Lamb that was slain from 
the beginning of the world, upon the lintel of the doorposts of 
their hearts, will be saved alive. Thus does the IHVH in the 
heart of each work out his blessing or his curse. And this is the 
only sense in which God ever curses his children. The God in 
man's own heart, in trying to manifest, is sometimes forced to let 
his creative force destroy the form that binds him down, and will 
not let him manifest his Godlike nature. 

A little touch of occult knowledge is given us in Ex. 8, 20: 
Moses rises up early to remonstrate with Pharaoh. It 's in our first 
moments after waking that our higher selves can most often make 
themselves heard, while we are passive, and our senses are all 
quiet, then can the still small voice be heard. 

The rod used was the rod of Initiation, and as a rule it is 

74 



MOSES 

Aaron who wields it, in this case, though Moses takes it when he 
needs the assistance of the water element als to bring forth hail, 
symbolic of hardened physical desire, which will beat down all the 
natural fruits of the world, leaving all things desolate and for- 
bidding. Thus did the great Law Giver and the High Priest 
train the people to understand the necessity of building up a soul, 
a fit vehicle for the Christ to manifest in. Thus did these two 
Great Ones work together in perfect harmony, nay, three Great 
Ones and more worked together in harmony, for the three great 
lines of work were carried on by those whose duty it was to look 
after them. 

The Great Trinity of helpers of mankind at one time stood: 
First, the Lord Jehovah; second, the one whom we know as the 
Christ ; and, third, Melchizedek, or the Buddha. Today it stands : 
Lord Jehovah, Jesus, and the Masters of whom He is a type, and 
the Christ, in the departments respectively of VH. of H, and of I, 
or Yod; thus is the work of the Holy Ghost, the Son, and the 
Father carried on by these Great Ones who are each a perfect 
Manifestation of all three Outpourings of the Supreme. 

Perhaps Jesus has been allowed to be more prominent than 
the rest of the Masters who may be found working right with 
Him everywhere in the Bible, because to Him was given the care 
of the religion of the western branch of the great Aryan race. 

If any doubt my right to call Moses a perfect manifestation 
of the IHVH in the Trinity of Great Ones, I refer him to 
Ex. 7,1: " And IHVH said unto Moses, I have made thee as a 
God to Pharaoh, and Aaron shall be thy prophet." Later on 
when he initiates Joshua, and also strikes the rock of the Master 
of Compassion twice for Aaron and Eleazar which brings forth 
the stream of wisdom that waters not only the Children of Israel, 
the Spiritual people, but also the cattle or the common people. 
He acts as Great Initiator. 

Because he has done this he cannot go into the Promised Land 
with the people for the reason that he is already there, and he 
lays his hands upon Joshua (Jesus) and turns the people over 
to him, that he may guide them through the descending torrent 
(Jordan) of the degenerative tendencies of the race. When 
Joshua starts to take the race through this descending torrent of 
their desires what does he do 1 He places the Ark of the Covenant, 

75 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

that symbol of the Christ Man, where it will stay the flood, and 
so long as that symbol is placed in a prominent place before the 
people the waters are kept back. Crossing through the bed of the 
river, twelve rocks (Masters of Compassion) are picked up, or 
developed by the struggle, and twelve more are found on the other 
side, just as they came up out of the river. So here are twenty- 
four Masters of Compassion given in the Bible as being the result 
of this struggle against the tide of desire. 

Before this Moses had gone up into the Mount of God, and he 
got revelations he could not give to the people because they were 
not ready, so he established Mystery work and transmitted the 
Spoken Law to Joshua, who in turn gave it to the forty receivers 
or elders, and these in turn communicated the same to those who 
qualified themselves to receive it. 

All through the ages has this been done, but after the destruc- 
tion of the second temple an effort was made to embody this teach- 
ing in a set of allegories that should hide while yet telling these 
truths to the initiated eye. We call this book the " Kabbalah. ' ' 
It is doubtful if we yet perceive more than a fraction of the 
meaning hidden there. 

So we see these Moses stories are telling us the occult secrets 
by which we may conquer flesh, and also reveal to us the great 
fact that loving elder brothers are standing ever ready to assist 
the race, no matter at what altitude the individual may stand; 
loving hands are ever ready to assist him, loving hearts ever ready 
to sympathize with him. The Passover we see is not only a 
Jewish historical point, but is a point of universal significance, 
being no less a place than the point when the spirit has definitely 
and consciously conquered the flesh up to the point of turning its 
back upon the downward course, and turning its face consciously 
to the Father who sent it. 



76 



REINCARNATION IN THE BIBLE 



CHAPTER IX. 

REINCARNATION IN THE BIBLE. 

Reincarnation is a doctrine little understood in western lands. 
To the average Christian it means a belief in the return of the 
human soul into the forms of animals or some of the lower king- 
doms. This, however, is not the sense in which it is used by 
Occultists today. 

It is recognized that such things as obsessions do occur some- 
times, just as monstrosities are sometimes born, but such cases 
are abnormal. The tide of evolution is ever onward and upward. 
It is not God's law that a decent animal should be polluted by a 
degenerate human entity. 

Science has traced the evolution of the human body up through 
the lower kingdoms, but, as Mrs. Besant has said, they have not 
given us the evolution of man when they have given us the 
evolution of the body, because the body is not the man, it is only 
the dress he wears ; there must also be the evolution of the intellect, 
and of the soul, before the evolution of man can be said to have 
been given; this the doctrine of reincarnation supplies. 

Reincarnation is found in all of the older religions, the Hebrew 
and early Christian included, as any one can prove who will take 
the pains to read the writings of the early Church Fathers. The 
foolish notions begotten in ignorance, to be found among the lower 
classes of the Orient today naturally repel the American or the 
Englishman, but if one will but seek the underlying truth he will 
at once see the reasonableness of the assumption. 

Many of the clergy are today convinced of the truth of this 
doctrine, but not many dare to state it plainly because of the 
intolerance of their people. For that reason the writer refrains 
from quoting many hints that have been dropped by noted clericals 
that indicate their broad views along these lines. It is unnecessary 
to make trouble for others to prove our argument. 

77 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Science has demonstrated that according to the age he is 
destined to live, will be the time that it takes an animal to reach 
maturity. The insect reaches full maturity in an hour, and dies 
in a day ; the dog is full grown in a year, and lives a dozen years 
or more; the horse matures in three or four years and lives 
twenty-five or thirty years; the elephant takes many years to 
mature and lives hundreds of years; so, also, man's physical 
body falls into line, and uses a proportionate time to prepare 
for its earthly existence. The law seems to be uniform, and, as 
above so below; therefore, may we not reason that the soul or 
mental body must have an opportunity to build the body for the 
Eternal Spirit to manifest in commensurate with the age to which 
it is expected to live? 

The soul cannot be said to be really immortal, that is, the 
mental body, for that is what the Hebrew meant by the soul when 
he spoke of body, soul, and Spirit, and will in time slip off to 
allow the Spirit to mount higher than it can follow, but so long 
as the Spirit needs it to manifest in upon the lower planes, it 
will survive, and that to us, in our present state of evolution, 
is practically immortality. If this one life is all that we have to look 
forward to, and if all of our eternal future depends upon the 
use we make of this one life, then we are "of all men most 
miserable," for, with the most of us, about all that we really 
accomplish is to gain a realization of how far we fall short of the 
ideal, nor can we see anyone whom we can feel at all sure j has 
attained to the desired point of perfection. 

How can God be proven to be just, allowing, as He does, 
children to be born under all sorts of varying conditions in all 
sorts of places, with all sorts of parents, if He then stipulates 
that all must believe exactly the same things or be lost? If one 
life is all there is, the thing is impossible; but if the child in the 
slums is there because in some other life he caused others to 
suffer that very same trouble, and needs to find out how it feels 
to be treated that way, then one can see the justice of the dealing. 
If each life is a day in school, and if all have the chance to 
ultimately pass, if they will but do their part, there is a satisfac- 
tion in contemplating the scheme. The grandeur of it grows 
upon one as he studies it, and a new feeling of brotherhood grows 
up in one's heart. 

78 



REINCARNATION IN THE BIBLE 

Christ showed that He understood the doctrine and did not 
condemn it, when he asked Peter who men said that He was? 
Peter said, Some say Elias, and some say some of the other prophets. 
But who do you say that I am? Luke ix, 13, 20 ; Mark vm, 27, 29. 
"And Peter answering said unto Him, Thou art the Messiah." 

"When talking of John, He said plainly: "This is Elijah, 
that was to come; he that hath ears to hear let him hear." Matt, 
xrv, 13, 16 and xvn, 10, 13. That is, those who understand the 
Mysteries will understand this matter, but He cautions the 
disciples not to speak of it. 

So also is the case of the blind man when the question was 
asked, "Did this man sin or his parents?" for of course a man 
born blind could not have sinned before his birth, unless he had 
lived before. Had the question been foolish He would not have 
answered as He did, but He seems to have recognized the justice 
of the question, and explains that in that case neither had 
sinned. John ix, 1, 3. 

In James m, 6, we read of the "wheel of birth," some of the 
versions make it read the "wheel of nature," but one will usually 
find "birth" in the margin, when it is put that way. 

The resurrection of the body, to suffer the penalty of the sins 
done in the body, as given in the Christian creed, no doubt refers 
to this understanding, as it was held in the early church. 

Our only object in stating these things is to prepare the mind 
to see the indications of the proof of this docerine in the allegories 
as we proceed. Let us see if we can not identify some of the in- 
carnations of the Great Ones that we know best, in these ancient 
stories. 

The writer makes no claim to be able to read the akasic records, 
and if any one has done so to seek for these lives, she is ignorant 
of the fact; but she feels impressed with the conviction that she 
has discovered some incarnations that will stand the test of 
occult investigation, and perhaps a good many. At any rate, it is 
interesting to study the indications, whether they be the real incar- 
nations or be used simply as types for our instruction. 

We are told that a Great Soul who has incarnated many 
times to assist mankind, is called by the Hindoos the "Manu," 
and that in the fifth sub-race of the fourth root race he started 
to gather the most advanced of the race to start the new fifth 

79 



AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

root race (the Aryan race). In our Bible we find in Genesis, 
Lord Jehovah given, and Noah, a "man righteous and perfect in 
his generation, who walked with God." In Moses, we find a 
great Law Giver like the Manu of the Hindoo, in Enoch (Initiator) 
one "who walked with God and was not for God took him" (or 
who was buried in the inner Mystery work of the time) ; in 
Samuel, another Initiator, or anointer, and in Zerrubbable also 
a great Initiator, his name means one who was born at the gate 
of God, or at the gate of Initiation. If there is anything in 
reincarnation then these names have a deeper significance than 
is apparent from casual reading. May they not all be incarnations 
of the Manu or his assistants? 

In Shem, in Melchizedek, and in Jonathan there are many 
indications that remind one of the Buddha. 

In Israel, in Aaron, in Samson, and in David we may see our 
blessed Master Christ. "I am the root (Israel), and the offspring 
(in Jesus' body) of David, his bright and morning star." (The 
first of the race to show the star of Initiation.) 

"Thus saith Jehovah, if My covenant of night and day stand 
not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 
then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my 
servant (note, my servant, not my servants), so that I will not 
take his seed (again the singular, evidently one person is referred 
to as "Jacob" and "David") to be rulers over the seed of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." 

Let us see if we cannot find Jesus in his other incarnations 
as mentioned in the Bible, as Isaac, as Joshua with Moses, as 
Joshua the High Priest of Beth Shemish, and as Joshua the High 
Priest in Zach. in, 6, 19: "In those days, and at that time I 
will cause a branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and 
he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. Jer. 
23, 5. A branch to grow up from the Lord Jehovah to David, 
who fits in here like Jesus, whose name means Jehovah's helper, 
growing up to David, forming a branch with the Christ? 

We are told by Occultists that our Christ is to be succeeded 
by the Master K. H., who is to act as the Christ of the sixth root 
race even as Christ succeeded the Buddha. Let us see if we find 
Master K. H. in Lot, in Joseph, in Eleazar, in Solomon, and in 
John the Beloved? 

80 



REINCARNATION IN THE BIBLE 

They tell us also that Master Moro is to be the Manu, or Law 
Giver of the sixth root race and that he has been an understudy 
of the Great Manu for ages ; let us see if we can find him in the 
lives of Abraham, in Elijah, in John the Baptist. 

Let us look at Baalim and Jonah and see if we can find Peter, 
dear, loving-hearted, impulsive Peter, always doing the impulsive 
thing, yet whom Christ addressed as "famous son of spirit," 
taking "dove" as a symbol of spirit, prophesying that he would 
become a stone (or a Master) in that incarnation. We are told 
that he was crucified, in legend. 

Such conjectures are important only as showing that the 
doctrine is taught in the book that has been claimed as contradict- 
ing it. Akasic investigation may prove that we have made some 
mistakes, but it will also prove that we have in many instances 
been right; of this the writer feels convinced. 

This doctrine, and the accompanying one, that of cause and 
effect, or compensation, "Karma" the Hindoo would say, "Be 
not deceived; God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth that 
shall he also reap ' ' ; these two ensure perfect justice to the son 
of man and the possibility of attaining ultimate perfection, even 
as the Master commanded, "Be ye therefore perfect even as 
your Father in heaven is perfect." Upon this plane if a man 
sows corn in Kansas, he does not expect to reap beans in Missouri ; 
so, neither may he, if he sows agony and bloodshed in this body, 
reap fire in a body that will not feel the flames. He must come 
back here and suffer the very pain he inflicted. Thus will the 
will of God be done, that we become perfect through experience, 
and we suffer only what we bring upon ourselves. "It is not 
My will that one of these little ones should perish." Not one 
jot or one tittle of the law shall fail, till all things be accom- 
plished." Matt, v, 18. 



81 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



CHAPTER X. 

CAN JESUS BE IDENTIFIED IN OTHER LIVES? 

The thought of reincarnation is so new to the western world, 
that to the average mind it will require a distinct struggle to 
readjust the ideas that have controlled the thought for years; and 
this is not an easy thing to face. But do not be frightened, 
friends; nothing that you or I can do will in any way disturb 
the Eternal Verities, but we may by patient endeavour obtain a 
better and truer understanding, and thus gain unspeakably. 

In considering the incarnations of Jesus, the first that the 
writer identifies with the Blessed Elder Brother, is that of Isaac, 
the spiritual son of Abraham (Master Moro, the understudy of 
the great Manu, or Lord Jehovah). 

Abram has become Abraham, or has taken the Second Great 
Initiation, before this child of the Spirit is born. "For it is 
written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one 
by the free woman. Howbeit, the son by the handmaid is born 
of the flesh; but the son of the free woman is born through 
promise, which things contain an allegory; for these women are 
two covenants; one from Mount Sinai, bearing children unto 
bondage, which is Hagar. ' ' Gal. iv, 23 and 24. Then in the 
28th verse Paul says: "Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are 
children of the promise." 29: "But as then he that was born 
after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit; 
so now", etc. 

In this passage Paul supports me in the assumption that 
physical women and physical children are not figuring in the 
allegories, but are used as symbols of spiritual things. 

The spiritual child, Isaac, is dedicated to the service of God 
from the first, and willingly goes with his father up into the 
mount (of Initiation), carrying the fuel for his own sacrifice, or 
the spirit of love and devotion, although he was at yet ignorant 

82 



CAN JESUS BE IDENTIFIED IN OTHER LIVES ? 

of the full significance of the act, as is shown by his questions. 
He makes no resistence when Abraham places him upon the altar, 
although the idea seems to be that he thought that death was the 
necessary outcome of the service. But God shows him that his 
work will consist in living all through the ages to help man, not 
in dropping the body, but in retaining it. The peculiarly gentle, 
devoted, loving nature of Isaac has often been spoken of by Bible 
students. 

When he is forty (the perfected quaternary, symbolic of the 
perfected physical), his father causes to be brought to him especial 
teaching in the Mystery work of Laban the Great White Brother, 
which is symbolized by Rebecca. As soon as he sees the beautiful 
higher Wisdom he loves it, and is at once married to it, or makes 
it one with him. It is significant that Isaac first sees Rebecca 
when in the field, meditating. 

There are those who claim that this is one of the incarnations 
of the one whom we call the Christ, but as Christ Himself speaks 
of Jacob and Isaac as two distinct entities in the words "God is 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God is the God of the 
living, not of the dead," and as we feel sure that Jacob was an 
incarnation of the Christ, and as Jesus seems to have ever worked 
in the degree between the Lord Jehovah, and the Christ, making 
a Trinity of Great Ones, that we distinguish at every turn in the 
affairs of humanity, it looks probable that we are right. 

In the next incarnation of this Great Soul, however, it is 
easier to see the distinguishing characteristics by which we know 
Him. We will first look at the meanings of the names, and see 
what we find: 

In the Smith and Peloubet "Bible Dictionary" we find the 
meaning of Jesus given as ' ' The Greek form of the name ■ Joshua, ' 
or 'Jeshua, ' a contraction of 'Jehoshua'; that is, help of Jehovah, 
or Saviour." Right here is stated that he is the "help of the 
Lord Jehovah," as we have pointed out. At the mention of 
Joshua the mind at once reverts to the minister of Moses. Now 
we are told by those who have the ability to judge correctly, that 
Moses was a manifestation of the Great Law Giver, or the 
"Manu" of the fifth root race. It must have meant much to be in 
such close touch with the Great Manu. It rather startles one to 
note that Joshua is called the son of "Nun," when we find that 

83 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

"Nun" means "Fish," and we are reminded that the astrological 
sign of Jesus was Pisces, and that the early Christians used this 
sign as a kind of token to distinguish each other when among 
enemies. 

We must remember that Moses is the leader of all of the 
Aryan race, not of the Jews only. "Judah" refers to the Jews, 
"Israel" to the whole Aryan race, in symbolic language, with its 
twelve, or perfect number of nations. And Moses turns the 
guidance of the race over to Joshua, when they reach the Jordan, 
symbol of the degenerative tendencies of the strongly developed 
desire nature. His the work of teaching this people the lessons 
of self control and purity. 

In Numbers xi:28, we find Joshua spoken of as minister of 
Moses from his youth up ; this may, of course, mean for only that 
life, but "youth" may mean his Isaac incarnation. 

Joshua is one of Moses' "chosen men." In Numbers xm, 
we find he is one of twelve, chosen by Moses to go to spy out 
the Promised Land (or the planes of extended consciousness). 
In another chapter the reader will see a description of the Garden 
of Eden, where the Promised Land is shown to be the planes of 
consciousness, from the land of Cush, or the Physical Plane, to 
the full and abounding River of Wisdom (Euphrates) on the 
Buddhic, Universal Love Plane. So Moses chooses twelve of his 
best men, to start esoteric work, to learn under his direction how 
to develop the powers latent in man, that would enable them to 
function consciously upon the higher planes of consciousness, the 
"Promised Land," the ultimate destiny of the race. 

Up to this time the young man had been called "Hoshea," in 
that incarnation, but now Moses gives him the name of "Joshua," 
or gives him the Second Great Initiation. As Isaac, he had shown 
his willingness to place himself upon the altar at the call of 
Abraham, and had gone up into the Mount of Initiation, carrying 
the fuel of the sacrifice in his own hands, or having in himself 
the consecration to feed the flame of the spirit. There, he took 
the First Great Initiation, here he takes the second, and receives 
his new name. In Ex. xxrv, 13, we find that Joshua, alone, went 
up into the mount (of Initiation) "with Moses." Ten of the men 
who had been chosen became discouraged, or died metaphorically; 
it was too big an undertaking to conquer the desire nature suf- 

84 



CAN JESUS BE IDENTIFIED IN OTHER LIVES 1 

ficiently to enter the land of the higher planes, and the spiritual 
impulse dies. Only Joshua and Caleb are left alive upon the 
higher altitudes, and only Joshua goes up into the mount with 
Moses (is initiated). 

Mr. Leadbeater says, that a man may be called at any time by 
sounding the name of the Augoeides, for that is the chord of the 
three principles of the Ego, and the Monad behind, so no matter 
where the man may be, when that chord is sounded his causal 
body (his soul) lights up, and leaps upward like a great flame, 
plainly visible to the seer. Page 140, " Inner Life," Vol. II. 
This is evidently the "new name" given in the Bible at the 
Second Great Initiation, and I think I am right in saying, that 
this name or one of the same rhythmic value, will be found 
identifying the Ego in succeeding incarnations. In the case of 
Jesus, the name of Joshua, the Hebrew for Jesus, is consistently 
used throughout the allegories where he is mentioned. This makes 
it easier than it proves to be with the Christ, who has such a 
number of names. But we will handle that later. 

Let us see where we find Joshua figuring in the Old Testament : 

In I Sam. vi, 14, we find Joshua a high priest in the temple 
of the Sun God, at Beth-Shemish, or the ancient Heliopolis, of 
Egypt. The Philistines, the descendants of Esau, the fourth and 
a half root race, strongly Physical Plane people, had taken the 
Ark of the Covenant from Israel in battle, but did not know 
what to do with it. 

The Ark, the reader will remember, symbolized the ideal of the 
fifth race man, the perfect, the God Man, the destiny of the fifth 
root race, and understandable by them, but the Philistines were 
simply disturbed by the suggestion. Perfection was beyond their 
conceptions; so they placed the Ark in the temple with their god 
Dagon, a symbol of the Astral Plane, half fish half man. The 
poor old god of the desire nature at once recognized that its con- 
queror had come, and fell upon his face, and when set up again 
he broke himself in pieces in his effort to humble himself. This 
made the Philistines so uncomfortable that they decided to get 
rid of this disagreeable reminder of man's destiny. 

Let us look at the beauty of the symbols used: First, the "Ark 
of the Covenant" made of Shittim, or the imperishable wood of 
the Orient, overlaid inside and outside with the gold of God's 

85 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

righteousness and wisdom, with the law of God in the heart of 
it, containing also the pot of mana (manas, mind), symbol of the 
intellect, or rather the higher mind, for it came from above, over- 
shadowed by the Cherubim, and continually receiving a stream of 
power from God, — the perfect man, the Christ. Naturally the 
poor physical-natured descendent of Esau would be far more 
comfortable with Dagon, the god of desire. Now note the other 
symbols. They took two "kine," confining their calves. Does not 
the reader see the symbol? Creative animal nature leaving its 
young, or all material attractions, even those most deeply rooted 
in the heart. They are ' ' turned loose upon the highway, ' ' hitched 
to a cart containing the Ark, to go as they may choose. When 
the ideal of the race is really loaded upon the animal nature 
what happens? It forgets every material consideration and they 
start at a brisk pace, lowing with longing as they go, toward the 
temple of the sun (or God) "at Beth Shemish, in to the field" 
(the immortal life field) of Joshua the High Priest, and stand 
by a "stone" (the rock of our salvation), and upon this "Stone" 
is placed the Ark, the perfect man. As soon as he finds his feet 
upon the rock, Joshua offers up the kine, or his entire animal 
nature, before the ideal of the perfect man standing upon the 
rock of our salvation, or the Christ. Now all this happens in 
the immortal life field of Joshua. Does this not identify him with 
Jesus who gave his body to Christ in another incarnation? 

But let us look farther before we judge. Several hundred 
years later we find in Zach. m : " And he showed me l Joshua the 
High Priest, standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan 
standing at his right hand" (testing him), "and the Angel said 
unto Satan, 'The Lord rebuke thee Satan, yea the Lord that hath 
chosen Jerusalem" (peace), "rebuke thee, is not this a brand 
plucked out of the fire?" 

"Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments" (lower mind 
body), "and was standing before the Angel." Remember in his 
last incarnation he had offered up his desire nature, now it is the 
mind body that must be purified. 

"And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him 
saying, 'Take those filthy garments from off him,' and unto him 
he said, 'Behold I have caused thine iniquity' (lower mind) 'to 

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CAN JESUS BE IDENTIFIED IN OTHER LIVES ? 

pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel.' " 
(Wisdom.) 

"And I said, 'Let them set a clean miter' (or diadem) 'upon 
his head.' So they set clean miter upon his head" (another 
symbol of crowning him with true wisdom), "and clothed him 
with garments" (gave him a purified mind body) "and the Angel 
of the Lord was standing by." 

"And the Angel of the Lord protested" (spoke earnestly) 
"unto Joshua, saying 'Thus saith the "Lord of Hosts:" If thou 
will walk in my ways, and if thou will keep my charge, then 
thou shalt judge my house' (race), 'and shalt keep my courts' 
(take charge of the spiritual temples of the people, guard them), 
'I will give thee a place of access among these that stand by.' " 
(He will let him come in between the two other Great Ones, the 
"Lord Jehovah" and the "Christ," the two who stand by.) 

"Hear now, Joshua the High Priest, thou and thy fellows 
that sit before thee (the other two Great Ones), for they are men 
that are for a sign" (or a wonder), "for behold I will bring 
forth My servant the Branch, for behold the Stone" (symbol of 
Mastership) "that I have set before Joshua" (the stone was set 
before Joshua in the last incarnation, remember) ; "upon one 
stone are seven eyes" (sight, or consciousness upon seven planes) ; 
"behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the "Lord of 
Hosts" (God in the heart), "and I will remove the iniquities of 
that land in one day" (he will be perfected in one incarnation, 
become a Master of Compassion, which really happened when he 
gave his body to the great Master Christ two thousand years ago.) 
How can it mean any other than our Blessed Jesus? 

In Chapter IV we get another significant allegory : 

"And the Angel that talked with me came again, and waked 
me as a man is wakened out of his sleep, and he said unto me, 
1 What seest thou ? ' And I said, I have seen and behold, a candle- 
stick all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven 
lamps (seven races of men) thereon; there are seven pipes 
(streams of power) to each of the lamps, which are upon the top 
thereof; and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the 
bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. And I answered 
and spake to the Angel that talked with me saying, 'What are 
these my Lord?' Then the Angel that talked with me answered 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

and said unto me, ' Knowest thou not what these are ? ' And I said, 
'No my Lord.' Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, 
'This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbable' (the great Initia- 
tor) 'saying, Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith 
the 'Lord of Hosts' (the God in the heart of every man). 'Who 
art thou, O great Mountain' (Mountain of the world's sin, or 
Karma) 'before Zerubbable? (he who was born at the gate of 
God or the gate of Initiation) 'thou' (the mountain of sin) 'shalt 
become a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stone' (Christ) 
'with shoutings of Grace, Grace, unto it." Moreover the word 
of the Lord came unto me saying "The hands of Zerubbable" 
(he who was born at the gate of God) "have laid the foundation 
of this house" (the evolution of this great race), "his hands 
shall finish it; and thou shalt know ;that the Lord of Hosts hath 
sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small 
things?" (experiences of life) "for these seven" (races of men) 
"shall rejoice, and shall see the plumet in the hand of Zerub- 
bable " ; ( The great Initiator shall measure and grade them accord- 
ing to their attainment, and ultimately all shall attain to the 
highest, so shall rejoice) ; "these are the eyes of God (the eyes 
in the stone, stone symbol of Master of Compassion, is here 
referred to, the seven eyes, sight on seven planes, the eyes of the 
God within the heart of man), "which run to and fro through 
the whole earth." 

"Then I answered and said unto him, 'What are these two 
olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the 
left side thereof?' and I said a second time, 'what are these two 
olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that 
empty the golden oil out of themselves?' and he answered me and 
said, 'Knowest thou not what these are?' and I said, 'No my 
Lord.' Then said he, 'These are the two anointed ones' (Jesus and 
the Christ) 'that stand by the Lord of the whole earth' (Lord 
Jehovah) Zaeh. iv. The three great manifestations of the Great 
Trinity whose mission it is to guide the race to their ultimate des- 
tiny, which is the same perfection that they themselves enjoy.) 

Is it not plain to be seen that these three Great Ones are the 
manifestations of the Trinity? The "two anointed ones" being 
Jesus, whose work it is to teach man to purify and consecrate 
himself, thereby building up the soul, or the casual body in 

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CAN JESUS BE IDENTIFIED IN OTHER LIVES ? 

whose heart the Christ Child can be born by immaculate con- 
ception; Christ the "top stone," the "branch," "the root and 
the stem of David," both inspired by the bright and morning 
star, the IHVH, or the God within, that also flows through the 
Lord Jehovah who is here spoken of as the Lord of the whole 
earth, that is, the Lord of the Physical Plane. He guides the 
Monad in its descent into matter, and looks after its physical 
condition that it may have proper vehicles to manifest in, puts 
into the body a certain arrangement of atoms so that Spirit may 
make itself felt through the heavy matter; He gives to the race 
a moral code, then He turns them over to Jesus for further train- 
ing along spiritual lines. Here is Jesus' place, mediator between 
man and God-Man, or Christ. Is it not a complete scheme. As 
above so below, we find this triplicity of arrangement every- 
where, reaching down into the very atoms that form the basis 
of all manifestation. "How perfect are His works, His ways are 
past finding out!" 

Let us take a look at Zach. vi, beginning at the ninth verse: 
"And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, 'Take of them 
of the captivity' (in the flesh), 'even of Heldai' (strength), 'of 
Tobijah' (good law), 'and Jedaiah' " (love) ; that is, take of the 
people those who are strong in the good law, and love and bring them 
to Initiation, for it goes on to say, "and come upon the same day, 
and go into the house of Josiah" (whom the Lord heals). "The 
son of Zephaniah" (hidden by the Lord), "whither they are 
come to Babylon" (the Gate of God or the gate of initiation), 
"yea take of them" (the initiates), "Silver" (redemption) 
"and Gold" (God's wisdom and righteousness), "and make 
crowns" (mark the plural, "crowns," not crown, because there 
are two heads to be crowned), "and set them upon the head of 
Joshua" (Jesus, the help of Jehovah) "the son of Jehozadak" 
(God justifies) "the High Priest; and speak unto him, saying, 
'Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts' " (the God inside, IHVH, and 
the God outside of man, the great Trinity, in One), saying, 
" 'Behold the man whose name is Branch' (Christ) : and he shall 
grow up out of his place" (The One who is now the Christ was 
then occupying the place that Jesus now occupies) "he shall 
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the 
Lord," (He shall complete the Trinity of great workers, be the 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

top stone capping the great temple, placed in the world for the 
salvation of man) "even he shall build the temple of the Lord; 
and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his 
throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne; and the 
counsel of peace shall be between them both." (Between Jesus 
and Christ when they both use the same body and afterward work 
together to attain the same end, each in his appointed place, 
supplementing each other, each belonging to the same stem but 
the "Branch" shooting to the greatest height in the work. "And 
the crowns" (two of them) "shall be to Helem" (strength), 
"and to Tobijah" (good law), "and to Jedaiah" (love), "and 
to Hen" (rest, peace), "the son of Zephaniah" (hidden by the 
Lord, or a son of the Mystery worker), "for a memorial in the 
Temple of the Lord." That is, the two Great Ones shall be 
crowned by the redemption, and righteousness, of the Initiates 
that they have been instrumental in teaching the good law, 
strength, love, and peace, or harmony, in the Mysteries. 

"And they that are far off" (younger races, and races to 
come) "shall come and shall build in the Temple of the Lord." 
(We are all being carved to be stones to be used in the Temple of 
God) ; "and ye shall know that the Lord of Hosts" (IHVH, the 
God within the heart, and the GOD without, the God in all 
things) "hath sent me to you." 

In the next life of "Joshua" we all call him "Jesus," and we 
see the Christ grew up out of the place he held as Aaron, as 
prophesied, and we see him using a body prepared for him by 
Jesus ("the council of peace between them both") ; he becomes the 
' ' Branch ' ' with Jesus, and the crowns of redemption and righteous- 
ness are placed upon the heads of them both, and Jesus the mediator, 
the Great High Priest, and Christ our Lord, becomes to the people 
Jesus Christ; the two have been blended into one in the minds 
of the orthodox until they have lost the conception of the Blessed 
Trinity of Great Ones, each of whom is doing a certain work for 
the regeneration of man. The Lord Jehovah, the Master Jesus, 
and the Master Christ, each of them a Master, a perfect example 
of the ultimate attainment of the race, each ready always to 
utterly efface himself for the good of the race, all working in 
perfect harmony so that through them the great streams of IHVH, 
from the Supreme can flow, or the Solar Logos, perhaps I should 

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CAN JESUS BE IDENTIFIED IN OTHER LIVES 1 

say to be technically correct, for He ever " tempers the wind to 
the shorn lamb, ' ' and the mighty force of the great source is thus 
tempered by passing through the Great Ones until it is sufficiently 
attenuated so that our physical bodies may not be consumed when 
we receive the baptism. Remember Jesus is a type of the 
Masters, many of whom are now working with Him in the same 
line of work. 

A most beautiful thought is, that when the western Christian 
prays, calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ, however ignorant he 
may be of these facts, he really calls upon the complete Trinity 
of Great Ones, whose duty it is to look after him in his triune 
development; thus does the good law hedge us about. 

Does it not seem probable to the reader now, that, provided 
reincarnation is a fact, Isaac, Joshua, Joshua of Beth-Shemish, 
and Joshua the High Priest, were the same ego that reincarnated 
as Jesus of Nazareth? There is certainly a golden cord binding 
these characters of different ages together in a very striking way. 

The Great Ones ever strive to hide their personality, being one 
with God, and one with us, even as they teach us to become one 
in them that we all may be one in God, as the Master Christ 
prayed that we should. The reader will remember the denial of 
John the Baptist that he was Elias, not that he meant to mis- 
state, but that he wanted to impress upon them that it mattered 
not at all, who he was; his words show this motive, I am of no 
consequence in this matter, "I am a voice of one crying in the 
wilderness (of ignorance) ''make His path straight." That was 
John's message, and he would give no other, nor would he gratify 
their curiosity. He wanted them to listen to the message. This 
alone stamps John as a great soul. So all of these Great Ones work 
in the secret place of the Most High. 



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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 



CHAPTER XL 

ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR 
BLESSED CHRIST? 

It is with feelings of deepest humility and reverence that I 
submit my reasoning upon this mystic topic to the thinking public, 
knowing full well that it will seem the height of presumption to 
many consecrated souls, who are just as honest in their opposition, 
as I am in the stand that I take. To me these things are true. 
They have been an inspiration to me, so I fain would pass them 
on to assist others ; but, before they leave my hands to start upon 
their long journey through many hands and many hearts, I feel 
like praying with Lord Francis Bacon: 'Thou, Father, Who 
gavest the visible light as the first born of Thy creatures, and didst 
pour into man the intellectual light as the top and consummation of 
Thy Workmanship, be pleased to protect and govern this work, 
which cometh from Thy goodness and returneth to Thy glory." 

Above all things do I desire to exalt that Trinity of Beneficent 
Beings included in the words, the "Lord Jesus Christ," as uttered 
by the Christian. That it has been revealed to me that these are, 
in reality, three distinct personages, each perfect manifestations 
of the Trinity upon earth, is wondrous in my eyes, but I firmly 
believe it to be true. Three Great Ones, but one in the Father 
(the Logos) ; the Lord Jehovah ; Jesus, that tender-hearted, com- 
passionate Elder Brother, that ever-present help in time of 
trouble, that sweet sympathizer in all of our joys and fears; and 
that grand and glorious reality, the great Master Christ, who 
has made the whole world His fold, and who stays with suffering 
humanity to the end of the ages, inspiring the holiest aspirations 
of which we are capable. The truth, like a diamond, has many 
facets, and each view, no matter what may be the angle, shows 
forth a glory peculiarly its own, but in no way detracts from the 
other sides. Each is perfect in itself, yet the glory is far more 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

resplendent when the jewel is lifted from the casket, that all of 
the facets ma> be seen at once. So with the Word of God, one 
age gets this view, another that, according to their evolution. In 
each age many different rays are discovered, all true, but all 
different, for not until the end of the ages will all of these be 
revealed, and the great Jewel lifted from the casket that the race 
with purified eyes may be able to see it in all of its glorious 
reality. Until then we may each add our mite to the light thrown 
in upon this wondrous gem, looking forward to the time when we 
shall be deemed worthy to be given a fuller view. 

Because of the loss of the Mysteries to the Christian Church, 
occasioned by the worldly ambition that sprang up in that body, 
there is much confusion in the mind of the average Christian as 
to what is meant by the Second Person of the Trinity. If asked 
he will usually reply, ' ' Why, Christ, of course, ' ' meaning the Man 
we know by that name. 

We have tried to show in a preceding chapter, that the Great 
Trinity sends forth a triplicity of manifestations that manifest 
upon each plane, and at last gets down upon this dense Physical 
Plane, being transmitted through many different agents, for. 
thus does "He temper the wind to the shorn lamb"; "wind," 
His great force, and "shorn lamb," the lamb that was slain from 
the beginning of the world, or the spark of the Trinity embedded 
in the heart of every man, shorn of his heavenly estate until the 
end of the age of evolution. This is not a Biblical quotation, but 
the symbolism is the same. 

"All things were made by Him. and without Him was not 
anything made that was made, ' ' we are told in John i, 1, and this 
refers to the great conception of the Second Person of the Trinity, 
the creative love wisdom aspect of God. in whom all of the 
universes live, and move, and have their being ; but upon our own 
planet we have One that to us is more understandable, who gives 
to us this baptism, in whom we live, and move, and have our 
being, whom the Christians speak of as God, but whom the 
Theosophist calls the Solar Logos, a manifestation of this same 
creative Wisdom; and then comes that Great One who is closer 
still to us, who translates to us as much of this wondrous spiritual 
power as we are able to stand; this is the God Man, Christ, the 
great mediator between God and man. Many, many times has He 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

incarnated in the flesh to help man to evolve, and we are what we 
are very largely because of His efforts. Because He is the perfect 
manifestation of this Trinity of forces that are latent in all man- 
kind, and because He is one of our own humanity, He stands a 
perfect example of what we may all become, because of the Spirit 
inherent in us all, but He is not the Great Second Person of the 
Trinity. He is a manifestation of that force upon our lower 
plane, in the best form to assist mankind, a form that we may 
understand. He it was who entered the body of Jesus at the 
Baptism, and used the body three years. 

The Lord Jehovah, Jesus, and the Christ represent to us the 
Holy Ghost, Son, and the Father, in their manifestations upon 
this planet. These three Great Ones come into direct contact 
with the race upon the lower planes, and contact man upon each 
of the three planes of his consciousness, the Physical, Moral, and 
Spiritual, according to the division of the work they are handling, 
as has been explained. This is repeated because it is so important 
that the reader keeps this distinction clearly before him. 

With this conception well in mind, it is easy to see that none 
of the statements made about our Christ in Scripture are con- 
tradicted when examined by the new light shed upon the subject, 
but, upon the contrary, all becomes reasonable and luminous. Even 
as the Great Second Person of the Trinity, the "Word" of St. John, 
was the first begotten of the Father, so also was our Christ the 
first begotten of our race, to manifest the Father, the first born 
among many brethren. Even as the sun has always been the 
symbol of the great God, so has this symbol been always used to 
signify the Great Representative of that God among men, con- 
sequently the prophet says: "The Sun of righteousness will come 
with healing in his wings" (or rays). He is the "bright and 
morning star," the first star in the race to appear in its full 
brightness. He is the "way, the truth, and the life," in the 
sense that he has shown us by attaining, that the Divinity within 
us, as the Divinity within Him, is the way, the truth, and the life. 
"I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not," he 
tells us in John y, 43. "Believest thou not that I am in the 
Father and the Father in me? The words that I say unto you I 
speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in Me doeth His 
works. ' ' 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

11. "Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in 
Me : or else believe Me for the very works sake. ' ' 

12. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth in Me, 
the works that I do, shall he do also ; and greater works than these 
shall he do; because I go unto the Father." John 14. (He be- 
comes one with Him.) 

St. Paul tells us, Gal. rv, 19, that he "travails in birth till the 
Christ be born in the hearts" of his followers, showing that he 
recognized this inner potential Divinity that they must awaken 
into life to attain. Also in Romans vm, 14 to 18, he brings this 
out clearly. 

So, dear Christian reader, do not be alarmed, lest any of the 
great conceptions that you may have entertained of the Great One 
will be disturbed by this investigation. Our Christ is far greater 
than you have dreamed of His being, unless you have been investi- 
gating along this line, because the Christians have lost the 
sublimer conception, and they have degraded the Great Second 
Person of the Trinity through lack of intelligent comprehension 
of the real immensity of the scheme. All additional light thrown 
upon the subject reveals Christ in His true exalted position, and 
all illumination makes it easier for Him to manifest His love to 
man, thus helping us to attain. He and Master Jesus (and the 
other Masters) represent to us the great Will, and Love and 
Wisdom aspect of God, even as the Lord Jehovah represents the 
activity aspect. 

In saying that I find evidences of other incarnations of the 
Christ in the flesh in the Bible, I am agreeing with many of our 
most intelligent ministers of Christianity, and a few of them have 
been courageous enough to come boldly out with the statement. 
The Rev. Robert Stuart MacArthur, pastor of the Calvary Baptist 
Church, of New York City, said in a Christmas sermon preached 
in 1909, as reported in the newspapers: "The Son of God honored 
the world with frequent temporary incarnations before becoming 
the child of Mary in Bethlehem." * * * "The incarnate Word 
was the God-Man, having two names united in one personality." 
Jesus and Christ, the two names, or two individuals, united in one 
body. It is very apparent to the close student of philology that 
the Bible teaches the doctrine of reincarnation, and now the time 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

seems to be ripe for Him to appear again, and some of us feel 
that we have received the command : 

"Tell ye the daughter of Zion (the consecrated soul) 
Behold thy King cometh unto thee, 
Meek and riding upon an ass, 
Upon a colt the foal of an ass. ' ' 

Or in other words, He will come in a young physical body. 
Ass is an esoteric symbol of the physical. And the time will 
not be long. 

In this allegorical reading the sons mentioned are those born 
of the Spirit. Physical relationship, being of minor importance, 
is not mentioned. "For they are not all Israel that are of Israel 

7. Neither because they are Abraham's seed are they all 
children; but in Isaac shalt thy seed be called 

8. That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are the 
children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned 
for a seed." Romans ix, 6 and on. 

To trace the incarnations of the Great One whom we call the 
"Christ" we will begin with Jacob, for that is the first of these 
lives that we identify in the Bible, and whether they were real 
incarnations or whether they are given us as types, the lesson is 
the same, and they teach reincarnation. 

As shown in the lives of Jesus, the Great Initiate Paul states 
that the women spoken of in Gal. iv, 22, were covenants, and that 
Isaac is the child of the Spirit, not necessarily of the flesh; and 
so also is Jacob a spiritual son of Isaac and Rebecca. It will be 
recalled in this connection that Jacob tells Laban that he is the 
son of Rebecca, quite contrary to Oriental usage if he were the 
physical son, for such usage demanded the mention of the father 
first. Isaac is not even mentioned because Jacob is showing that 
Rebecca was his Alma Mater. 

The Lord Jehovah commissions Abraham to lead the great 
Aryan race (not simply the Jews), and gives him the Second 
Great Initiation, the one that shows that the desire nature must 
have been conquered, and after that episode the child Isaac is 
born of the Spirit. That is, Isaac is a young student aspiring 
to Initiation, who develops under the tutelage of Abraham. He 
may have been a physical son, but that is not at all necessary. 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST 1 

Abraham sees that the conditions are not just what they should 
be for the young spiritual aspirant, so he sends a faithful servant 
to the " White Brother" (Laban), a member of the Great White 
Lodge evidently, the son of Bethuel (dweller in God), for some 
teachers for the promising young Isaac, and the servant leaves 
the matter entirely in the hands of God. He is guided to some 
wells (of wisdom), where he finds Rebecca drawing the water (of 
wisdom) for her father's flock, and is so pleased with the way 
she does it, that he inquires and finds that the school is under the 
care of the very Bethuel, and Laban, whom he is seeking. Whether 
the servant studies until he masters the wisdom of the school, and 
then returns, or whether he takes teachers back with him qualified 
to establish Mystery work such as Laban had, in his classes ranked 
as "sister," is not plain; but probably it was done in the latter 
way, as he is represented as returning without delay. An any 
rate, when Isaac was forty, or had the perfected physical develop- 
ment, as indicated by the quaternary, the higher wisdom 
"Rebecca," came hidden behind her veil (a common symbol of 
the inner Mystery work), and as soon as he saw her, he loved her. 
Keep in mind that we found in this character indications that he 
was an incarnation of Jesus, not Christ. The old school, Sarah, 
was dead, or he had outgrown its teachings, and was lonely, or 
reaching out for something more. These allegories all have the 
double meaning of referring not only to the life of the individual, 
but also to that of the race that he leads, so here the man, Isaac, 
gets his Mystery teaching, but at the same time the Mystery teach- 
ing of the Great White Lodge is established upon a new and 
firmer footing among the young race that is growing into a strong 
and formidable people, and Isaac the Initiate is its leader. 

From this race, under the teaching of the school of wisdom 
thus established, comes forth first a great exoteric worker, a 
leader in ritualistic service among the masses; and almost at the 
same time, close upon his heels comes forth another, of a very 
different type, altogether different from the first; one who is to 
start the new great fifth root race (Aryan race) upon its spiritual 
path in a very definite manner. Esau is a distinct advance upon 
the old type, the fourth root race, and starts the fourth and a 
half root race, a race that dominated the Orient for ages, and 
showed great promise from a physical standpoint, so much so, 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

that the father (the old race) was blind to the degenerate ten- 
dencies that are shown in the allegorical marriages, that "were 
a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and Rebecca," for he showed such 
an inclination to degrade himself by making ties beneath his 
station, or in other words, he showed a tendency to revert to old 
traditions rather than adopt the new and progressive ones that 
were upheld by the Rebecca school. He is a "great hunter before 
the Lord" we are told, so he was very strong and aggressive in 
his religious work, and the people take him to be the greater of 
the two brothers. They like his venison, or the fruit of his 
activities, and he works hard and willingly to get their praise 
and blessing. He is shown, however, to be a slave to the desire 
body, when hungry will give even his birthright for a mess of 
pottage, rather than suffer the pangs of hunger. He thinks he 
will die if he denies his body, while Jacob shows the strong 
characteristic of the new fifth root race in being able to control 
his desire, for the sake of future advantage. Self control and 
the ability to look forward with intelligent comprehension of 
cause and effect, are the peculiar traits of the fifth root race. 

Jacob differs from Esau in many ways. He is not hairy 
(not strongly physical), he loves the tabernacle (loves religious 
study and meditation), is a favorite with his mother (the Mystery 
school), and he is obedient to the dictates of his teachers, even 
when told to assume the physical characteristics of Esau, humbling 
himself to cater to the common people and persuades them to eat 
of the goat (a sin offering) instead of the venison of Esau's 
hunt, or the material reward that he presented them, and Jacob 
gets the blessing, because in their blindness they do not discover 
his real intentions. 

Isaac was the perfected quaternary (symbol of the perfected 
physical) when Rebecca came, but when the boys are born he is 
three-score, or he has entered the spiritual triangle. Spirituality 
is well developed in the inner work of the race. Rebecca had been 
but a sister of Laban, not one of his advanced classes, and for a 
long time no very earnest students came from her; even now 
Esau is much more material than spiritual, he realizes the force 
of religion for power, but has no thought of using it to purify 
himself. His desire nature is dominant. 

Jacob, true to the name, becomes the supplanter of Esau in 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

every way, and becomes the head of the great fifth root race 
(Aryan). His mother, who sees that the struggle with Esau 
(unbalanced forces) may kill out his spirituality, insists that he 
be sent to Bethuel (dweller in God) and Laban (White Brother) 
for further illumination along higher lines. 

All of the words used in these tales are so suggestive of deep 
meaning that it takes great self control to pass them by. We can, 
however, handle but a few because of lack of space. 

Jacob was going from Beer-Sheba (well of an oath, well 
means wisdom) towards Haran (spiritual heights). 

Remember that "Rock," "stone," is a symbol of the Master 
of Compassion. "They did drink of the spiritual rock that 
followed them and the rock was Christ." I Cor. 10. 

Jacob lies down with his head upon a stone, or with his head 
resting, or reflecting, upon the possibilities of his becoming a 
Master, for that, he knows, is the purpose of his special instruc- 
tion, and he has a vision. He sees what seems to be a long ladder 
reaching up to heaven, and angels ascending and descending upon 
it. He was evidently given a view of the evolution of man, the 
descent of the ego into incarnation, and its evolution back to 
God. "The land as thou liest," or the plane you see as you lie, 
or the plane of consciousness that you have, that enables you to 
see this, ' ' To thee and to thy see will I give it. " It is the birth- 
right of the fifth root race, and they will eventually gain it; "and 
thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread 
abroad to the west, to the east, to the north, to the south, and in 
thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be 
blessed." Not only will he be the great leader of the religions of 
the world during the fifth root race but he is training the leader 
of the sixth root race as well, as will develop later, so all nations 
and races will be blessed. "And behold I am with thee and will 
keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee again"; 
that is, you are now given a glimpse of this plane of conscious- 
ness, but you will develop until you will be able to function con- 
sciously upon this plane all of the time. "I will bring thee again 
to this place." 

He is told that it is the "Lord Jehovah" who is talking with 
him, that he was the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and that 
now he will be the God of Jacob. Possibly Christ was thinking 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

of this vision when later He said to the Jews in Palestine, "What 
saith your Scriptures?" God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob; God is the God of the living not of the dead." "And 
(Jacob) was afraid, and he said, surely IHVH (Jehovah) is in 
this place, and I knew it not"; that is, he had not before 
realized that IHVH was really within his own heart. Undoubtedly, 
also, he saw, to some extent, what the future had in store for 
him. So he sets the "stone" he had under his head (or the idea 
of masterhood that he had been thinking of) up as a pillar in 
Bethel (the Temple of God, which is his heart), as a permanent 
memorial of his intention to attain that ideal. He anoints it 
with the oil of consecration, and from that moment is the disciple 
bound by his oath to attain Mastership. He has heard the call 
and has answered, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, God!" 

Now, he takes up his journey towards the east, or towards 
intellectual understanding, until he comes to the well (of wisdom) 
of Laban, the White Brother. Here Laban is called the son of 
Nahor, while Isaac called him the son of Bethuel, the dweller in 
God. As Nahor means "snorter," and as this is a term some- 
times used in India to indicate a Yoga, or one who practices the 
breathing exercises, possibly this is the significance of the term as 
used here. 

Jacob finds the wells (of wisdom) all covered with stones 
(Masters of wisdom), and he sees Rachel, clear-eyed, beautiful 
Rachel, watering her father's flock; or he sees and desires the 
attainment of the higher wisdom, that he sees given to certain of 
the people by the school called Rachel, or the particular system 
that she typifies. Rachel is evidently not a Hebrew name, but 
may come from " Ra " and ' ' Chela "; it is at any rate very ancient. 
Being feminine in gender, we may translate it God's productive 
pupil ; the Hebrew translates it, the ewe, or the productive sheep ; 
as sheep is a smybol of the Israelite, or the spiritual part of the 
race, it is not so far off. The productive part of the spiritual 
part of race, would be a very fair description of the work that 
Rachel stood for. 

Rachel is a younger daughter. The more advanced work is 
always the last to develop. Jacob serves seven years which seem 
but a day, because of the love he bears the clear-eyed, beautiful, 
wisdom, serving faithfully, studying hard, and gaining possessions 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

(intellectual and spiritual possessions), by hook or by crook, in 
every possible way; but at the end of the seven years finds he has 
married, or mastered, only Leah (the weak eyed) ; that is, he 
can not yet see upon the higher planes, as these schools always 
taught those pupils who were qualified to do. So Laban explains 
that the lower work (Leah) is always taken first, before one can 
be given the higher instruction, but that now he can enter the 
school of Eachel. He will, however, be obliged to serve, or study 
here, also, seven years, before he will have all that the school can 
give him. 

So another seven years of study and of teaching follows, for 
all of the time he tends flocks, or looks after the welfare of the 
people, and during the last seven years he selects the strongest and 
best of Laban 's people and makes them his by the treatment he 
gives them, and no matter how often the flock is changed upon 
him, invariably the strongest and best, the most evolved, are 
found to be followers of Jacob, and he gains great possessions, 
both in flocks and herds (pupils and followers), and in gold 
(wisdom), jewels (righteousness), and riches (understanding). 
That is, he has gained greatly in wisdom, righteousness, and 
understanding, and has a large following of pupils. All of the 
most evolved and strongest of the people flock to Jacob, recogniz- 
ing in him their natural leader. 

He places in their watering-troughs rods made of the plane 
tree, or holds before them in his wisdom teaching the use of the 
rod of Initiation in opening up the consciousness to the different 
planes of consciousness, and encourages them to look forward to 
the Initiations as a definite goal; and they become ring streaked, 
and spotted, or more highly developed in spots and streaks. 

Laban sees his authority slipping away, and tries to discover 
the secret that he perceives Jacob has gained, but when Jacob 
takes him into the tabernacle of Rebecca she sedately sits with his 
Gods hidden beneath her skirts after the manner of women, or 
Mystery work, and he finds himself no wiser than before. She 
cannot divulge to this representative of the old race those things 
that only the more evolved of the new race can understand. He 
would not be able to grasp them. 

Laban is obliged to admit himself beaten, but as God had 
warned him in a dream not to interfere with the development of 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

the new race, he partakes of the sacrament with its leader, they 
mutually agree to be friendly, and Laban goes back to his own 
country, or settles back to his own state of consciousness, realizing 
that a new race is being born, and that he must be content to see 
his people depart from him, as they come into the broader realiza- 
tion. Jacob had tried for six years to work with him, but con- 
tinual misunderstandings had been the result, and Jacob says, 
"I will arise and go to my Father," so after the covenant with 
Laban he is free to continue his journey. 

But Jacob finds that he must not only part peaceably with the 
old school, but he must also forgive his brother before he can 
see his father's face. All night long he struggles with the angel, 
his higher self, and only as the higher self kills out all selfish 
desire, symbolized by the withered thigh, only then does he "con- 
quer with God," and become fit to enter the great Buddhic Plane, 
the plane watered by the great Euphrates (the great and abound- 
ing river of wisdom and love). Upon this plane only universal 
love can stand, and when that enters the heart, then Jacob con- 
quers with God. Still the fear of his brother is not entirely taken 
from him, but he finds that when he goes to him in the new spirit, 
that has sprung up in his heart, his brother is at once made his 
friend, and he has nothing to fear. 

Thus is the Mystery work of the great fifth root race started 
by the Great One who is to be the spiritual leader of it during all 
the ages, while as yet but few had evolved far enough to be really 
classed fifth race people. This all happened while the fourth race 
was prospering, and while the great Buddha was acting as 
spiritual leader of that race, just as now Master Moro and Master 
Koot Hoomi are selecting those who are sufficiently evolved to 
start the sixth root race type. Ages must elapse before the type 
will be the ruling one in humanity, but the Masters work with 
infinite patience and love, age after age, and the first day of the 
work is as sacred in their eyes as is the work of the last or the 
full grown race. 

"We find that Leah bears many children. The lower or exoteric 
understanding of the new race's religious views takes with many; 
but Rachel is barren for many years. The Inner Mystery work needs 
a high state of development, not easily obtained at that stage of 
the world; but at last two spiritual sons are born, Joseph, whose 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

name indicates an increase in consciousness, and Benjamin, who 
is evidently a new impulse given to the old religion of the day, for 
Gautama Buddha, later on, comes as a son of Benjamin, in the 
Bible. 

All of the sons of Israel are spiritual sons or efforts to estab- 
lish religions in the different nations, in different incarnations of 
the Great One Himself, and they extend over considerable time. 
In the poem called the "Blessing of the Sons of Israel," there are 
indications of this, as we will see later. 

Joseph is shown to be psychic from the start, and has a vision 
in which he sees the sun (Christ), and the moon (Lord Jehovah), 
and the other stars of which he is one (the other Masters) bow 
down to him. Surely this can be no other than Master Koot 
Hoomi. 

Israel makes for Joseph a coat of many colors (teaches him 
to purify his vehicles), and the brethren throw him into a pit 
filled with the slime of their own jealousy. From here they sell 
him into the bondage of Egypt, or the physical, making the father 
believe that the spiritual nature has been killed by the lower 
self, that the coat of many colors has been defiled with the blood 
of animals. But after many trials that show the integrity of the 
character of Joseph, he conquers the flesh, and stands a victor, 
able to hand out spiritual bread to his brothers in their time 
of stress. 

In his old age we find Israel dwelling in Goshen (God's peace), 
in the midst of Egypt (the Physical Plane people), while Joseph 
gives to the brethren the spiritual food, and loving care of an 
older brother. Joseph gives out bread to all of the people of the 
land, only stipulating that the people bring their flocks and herds 
or the common people that he may have the care of them in 
order to instruct them; for there was a great famine (of intel- 
lectual and spiritual things) in* the land of Canaan (the low-lying 
land, the land of the lower planes of consciousness). 

In Oriental countries it has always been customary for the 
eldest born of the male children to be given the father's blessing, 
but here the spiritual nature of the tale is shown by the fact that 
Israel deliberately blesses the one who represents the greatest 
spiritual development, preferring him to the one who symbolizes 
mentality (Mannassah, probably from the Aryan word Manus, 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

mind). He gives his strongest blessing to Ephraim (double fruit- 
fulness, or fruitfulness of both mental and spiritual natures). 

We must hasten, but will tarry a moment to examine that 
ancient poem where Israel is shown as blessing his sons. The sons 
are really spiritual impulses given to the religions of the world, 
or new religions started by his spiritual sons, or Initiates, or by 
himself in his different incarnations. 

"Reuben thou art my first born, my might and the beginning 
of my strength ; the pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence 
of power. Unstable as water (controlled by desire) "thou shalt 
not succeed." The sea is a symbol of the Desire Plane. 

Simeon and Levi are condemned because they are too violent 
and self willed, they but hock the ox (their animal nature), when 
they should kill it out, or offer it entirely to the Lord. Judah 
is born under Leo, "the Lion's Whelp," and shall be famous, 
because from him shall come the Great Ones who shall rule the 
races until Shiloh come, or until the rest time comes. As a matter 
of fact, Christ, Jesus, and Master Koot Hoomi the Christ of the 
sixth root race, all came through this line in the David incarna- 
tion. He binds his ass's foal to a vine; that is, he binds his 
animal nature down by tying it strongly to the spiritual, and 
washes his garments in the blood of the grape, or washes his 
subtile bodies in spirituality. 

"Dan" (Samson came from Dan) "shall judge his people as 
one of the tribes of Israel. ' ' 

"Dan shall be a serpent" (wisdom) "in the way, 

That biteth the horses heels 

So that the rider falleth backward." 

That is, Samson, the serpent of wisdom, shall cripple the 
animal nature so that the rider, or the man, shall draw back from 
his material desires in the journey of life. 

In Asher, I think I perceive a later incarnation of the Christ 
than the Bible mentions elsewhere, so perhaps it is just as well 
to leave it out of this study. 

"Joseph" (increased, Master Koot Hoomi) "is a fruitful 
bough, the son of a fruitful tree" (great teacher) "by a foun- 
tain" (of wisdom). 

"His daughters" (his Mystery work) "run over the wall" 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST 1 

(of the consciousness of the fifth root race, because he will train 
the sixth root race). "His hands are made strong by the Mighty 
One of Jacob" (the same IHVH that has been the strength of 
Jacob). "From thence is the Shepherd the "Stone of Israel" 
(the Jesus incarnation is in direct line from Joseph through 
Solomon, Master Koot Hoomi). 

"The blessing's of thy father" (Israel or Christ) 
"Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors 
Unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills"; 

(he will be guiding the race until the very end of the ages, for 
as the Messiah of the sixth root race he will be still guiding his 
people while the seventh root race is forming and living its life, 
just as Christ is guiding the fifth root race while the fourth root 
race is with us to be also guided, and the sixth is being started. 
Surely unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills will be 
his dominion. What a tremendous responsibility!) 

Benjamin, afterward Hindooism, "is a wolf that raveneth" 
or that swallows everything in sight, and that is the characteristic 
of that religion in after years, taking and appropriating every 
idea that came and making it its own. Today it does the same. 
"In the morning" (while it is young) "he shall devour the prey, 
but in the evening he shall divide the spoil with other religions. 

No one knows who penned this poem, but that it is simply a 
blind, giving identification, esoterically, to the incarnations of the 
Christ of the fifth root race, the great religious leaders that He 
trained, and the great religious movements that were either 
started by Him or in which He took a prominent part, is without 
doubt true. There were twelve of these spiritual impulses — the 
sacred number of completion. 

In time the Children of Israel, or the spirtual minded of the 
new race, grew and multiplied, until the Egyptians (the Physical 
Plane people) became fearful that they might conquer them, so 
the great battle between Spirit and matter began in the race, even 
as it had been fought in the hearts of the redeemed of the race. 
Thus do the cycles of the great races of humanity follow in the 
order that they register in the life of man. The Moses stories 
show this mighty struggle, and trace the dealings of the Great 
Helpers as they guided out of the bondage of Egypt (or the 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

dense physical), through the wilderness (of ignorance and delu- 
sion), through the Jordan (of the degenerative tendencies of the 
strongly developed desire nature), and into the Promised Land 
(of extended consciousness, and inner peace), the few who were 
ready to follow the law that enabled them to thus attain. 

As our Blessed Lord said in His Krishna birth, " Whenever 
there is decay of righteousness, and there is exaltation of un- 
righteousness, then I Myself come forth." 

"For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil 
doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born 
from age to age." (The Bhagavad Gita, Fourth Discourse, 7 
and 8.) 

Consequently when the time came in the development of race 
when the great struggle was to take place, when the powers of evil 
were mustering their forces for a strong stand to prevent the 
regenerating process from accomplishing its destiny, then do we 
find our Great Helper coming down into the bondage of the flesh 
again for our sakes, again crucified upon the cross of dense matter 
to assist man to rise above the bondage of the physical, to liberate 
the souls in the prison house of flesh. 

In the Aaron incarnation Christ comes from the tribe of Levi, 
"The Lion of the tribe of Judah, I will divide them in Jacob" 
(the physical part of the race), "and scatter them in Israel" (the 
spiritual part of the race). Aaron is called to assist his brother 
Moses, when four-score and three years old, the four denoting the 
completed quaternary, and the three the perfected triangle or 
the Trinity. 

Moses is four-score, or the perfected physical, the quaternary, 
although the Lord has told him that he is to act as "God to the 
people," and he shows his double commission by administering 
the rites of Initiation to Joshua, to Aaron, and to Eleazar. To 
Joshua (Jesus) he gave the Second Great Initiation in that in- 
carnation, and to Aaron and Eleazar (Master Koot Hoomi) the 
third. In this incarnation Christ is acting in the place that has 
since been held by Jesus; that is, in the second degree of the 
work of the great Trinity, that symbolized by the letter H, in 
the four letters IHVH. VH, we must remember, handles man 
upon the Physical Plane, and is managed by the Lord Jehovah, 
but the first H signifies the creative love wisdom of the higher 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST 1 

planes, and that department of the work is to evolve the soul or 
causal body. At the time Aaron worked with Moses, He (Christ) 
occupied this place, and the great Lord Buddha, called Mel- 
chizedek in the Bible, occupied the place since occupied by the 
Christ. 

The Bible student will at once recall the words of St. Paul, 
that Great Initiate, whom all of the different schools of thought 
recognize as an authority upon occult matters, in Heb. vii: "For 
this Meichizedek, king of Salem (peace), priest of God Most 
High (El Shadai), who met Abraham returning from the 
slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham 
divided a tenth part of all, being first, by interpretation, King of 
Righteousness, then also King of Salem, which is King of Peace ; 
without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither 
beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of 
God, abideth a priest continually." 

"4. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom Abra- 
ham the patriarch, gave a tenth." Then he goes on to show how 
Levi was yet unborn, for he was to descend through the line 
of Abraham. 

7. "But without any dispute the less is blessed of the greater." 

8. "And here men that die receive tithes, but there One, of 
whom it is witnessed that he liveth." 

15. "And what we say is yet more abundantly evident, if after 
the likeness of Meichizedek there ariseth another priest" (Christ) 
"who hath been made, not after the law of carnal commandment, 
but after the power of an endless life; for it is witnessed of Him, 
Thou are a priest forever after the order of Meichizedek." 

In Hebrews ix, 28, Paul shows that he comprehended the 
double duty that our Christ did in the Trinity of Great Helpers, 
by serving in the place that Jesus has since occupied, before 
becoming the Messiah: "So Christ also, having been once offered 
to bear the sins of many" (or bear with the sins of many), "shall 
appear a second time apart from sin, to wait for him unto salva- 
tion. " That is, He shall appear in the highest position of Spirit, 
the part of the Trinity of workers symbolized by the letter "I," 
Yod, when He will manifest the perfected Trinity. In Him is the 
Temple of God on earth completed, the IHVH, Jehovah, the 
Great, manifested in perfection in the three Great Ones, 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Christ "I," Jesus "H," Lord Jehovah "VH," three in one 
Spirit, each perfect, but each having a different and distinct line 
of work to do in the great plan of evolution. 

Let us not forget when our brother, the Hindoo, worships 
the Buddha, that the Great One is the Melchizedek, that our 
Abraham thought it worth while to pay tithes to, and that St. Paul 
recognizes as the predecessor of our Blessed Lord. 

In Numbers m, 2, 3, it will be noticed that the sons are clearly 
the spiritual sons of Aaron, not the sons of the flesh. "These are 
the names of the sons of Aaron ; Nadab, the first born, and Abihu, 
Eleazar, and Ithama. These are the sons of Aaron, the priests 
that were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the 
priest's office." The first two, we are told, died because "they 
offered unworthy sacrifice unto the Lord." Plainly the passage 
is to be read from the spiritual standpoint. The Hebrew Kab- 
balah, as translated by S. L. M. Mathers, says, page 176, para- 
graph 529 : ' ' Whosoever descendeth from his former position 
wherein he was before, concerning such an one is it said in 
Scripture that he died. ' ' 

In Leviticus xxrv, 2, we have the commission of Aaron to 
serve as the great supply of spiritual strength to the race from 
the evening (of lack of understanding) until the morning (of 
regeneration of the race). "Command the Children of Israel" 
(those of the Aryan race who are guided by the Divinity within) 
"that they bring unto thee pure olive oil, beaten for light" 
(assist him with spiritual impulses) "to cause the lamp to burn 
continuously, without the Veil of the Testimony" (keep a strong 
spiritual impulse in the ritualistic service of the people in their 
Church work), "in the tent of the meeting shall Aaron keep it 
in order from evening" (of lack of discernment of the race) "to 
morning" (of enlightment), "before Jehovah continually, and it 
shall be a statute forever throughout your generations" (through- 
out the incarnations of your race). "He shall keep in order the 
lamps upon the pure candlestick before Jehovah continually." 
Note the words "forever" and he is to do this "continually." 
This is not a matter that is to change with the changing customs, 
it is not something to be disturbed by the downfall of nations, or 
the destruction of temples; he is to continue it forever, and keep 
at it continually. As they have no word that gives exactly the 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

same meaning that we have attached to forever, perhaps it would 
be nearer the truth to translate it to the end of the ages. 

Here we have the same idea that Zechariah rv, 2, brings out 
in his vision of the great candlestick having seven lamps (seven 
races of men), fed from founts of two Great Ones that he saw as 
olive trees "upon the left hand and upon the right." "And I 
answered and said unto him, what are these two olive branches 
upon the left side and upon the right that supply the lamps of 
the golden oil" (wisdom) "out of themselves? and he answered 
and said unto me, knowest thou not what these are? and I said, 
No, My Lord, and he answered and said unto me these are the 
two Great Ones" (Christ and Jesus) "that stand by the Lord 
of the whole earth" (the Lord Jehovah). 

Numbers in, 5 : " And Jehovah spake unto Moses saying : 
Bring me the tribe of Levi and set before Aaron the priest, that 
they may minister unto him, and they shall keep his charge, and 
the charge of the whole congregation to do the service of the 
Tabernacle." (They were to take charge of the religious work 
upon earth to be the servers under the Great Ones of the H, or 
creative wisdom department, who would in turn supply them with 
spiritual inspiration, that would lead them to build up their 
souls, or causal bodies (tabernacles) and assist others to do the 
same, for that is the work of this department.) 

9. "And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons and they shall 
keep their priesthood." 

Numbers rv, 16, we find the right of succession again recog- 
nized for Master Koot Hoomi in the words. "And the charge of 
Eleazar son of Aaron shall be for oil and light" (he shall help 
supply the spiritual power), "and the sweet incense" (love and 
prayer), "and the continual meal offering" (attend to the 
sacrifices in the spirit), "and the anointing oil" (wisdom), "and 
the charge of the Tabernacle" (he will have the succession to the 
place in the Great Temple of the Lord, of the anointed one, to 
be one of the Great Three who manifest the Trinity to man). At 
one time this Trinity was Melchizedek, our Christ, and Lord 
Jehovah. Now it is Christ, Jesus (and the other Masters), and 
Lord Jehovah; if Occultists are right and we are reading these 
allegories right, in the sixth race this Mighty Three will be 
Master Koot Hoomi. If Jesus has a successor I have not identified 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

him, and so will keep him in his present place, as He is very 
evidently a type of the Masters, who as a whole occupy this place ; 
but it seems plain that Master Moro (Abraham) will occupy the 
place of the Lord Jehovah for the sixth root race. It will be 
remembered that when Moses initiated Aaron in the Mount, that 
Aaron took off his priestly robes and placed them upon the 
shoulders of Eleazar (Master K. H.), who had also taken the 
Third Great Initiation with him. 

If the Great White Lodge is an existing institution, as all of 
the sacred Scriptures seem to indicate, if the Initiations have been 
given to man all the way along as soon as he was ready, then 
reincarnation is a positive necessity to give man the opportunity 
to attain the proper qualifications to make such a thing possible; 
and if this is the way it works out, then, surely, all of these 
indications point to Aaron being an incarnation of the Christ. 
Otherwise, how account for these things? If one divests the mind 
of the bondage of the old chronological table, and remembers that 
this is the history of the unfoldment of the spiritual natures of 
the great leaders of the whole race, not of the Jews only, it will be 
much easier to grasp that these are allegories that bring out those 
typical stages in the life of an Initiate, that will ultimately be 
experienced by each of us as we advance. 

The next incarnation of the Great One, who always returns 
when man needs him most, is to be found in the character of 
Samson. This allegory must be very old. Many of the words 
are so ancient that all trace of their original meanings have been 
lost. The local coloring of Palestine was given it by some com- 
piler, probably Ezra, to cultivate that spirit of patriotism that 
was so needed, if the Jews were again to become an independent 
nation, but I surmise that the events took place upon the plains, and 
in the mountains of India in a very distant time. 

Eemember that most of these personal nouns have a double 
meaning, one applying to an individual and one to the race, tribe, 
or organization that that individual stands for. So Israel, while 
a man, is also the great Aryan race, not the Jews. Judah stands 
for the Jews. When used in some connections Israel refers to the 
spiritual part of the race, and Jacob to the Physical Plane part 
of them. The Philistines were the descendants of the fourth and 
a half root race, which is symbolized by Esau. The word means 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

travelers, and is sometimes used simply to note those who are 
progressing, regardless of nation or tribe. 

For ages the race spoken of as the Philistines really dominated 
the Orient. They were the merchants and traders, the great 
materialistic thinkers, the great warriors, the active, alive, domi- 
nant people. The young fifth root race were also strongly physical 
in their development, all of its physical forces were virile and 
active, only here and there one became conscious of the Spirit 
within struggling for utterance, and such, as a rule, sought 
religious communities, or took the Nazerite vow, devoting their 
lives to the instruction of others. These little Schools of the 
Prophets were to be found scattered all over the hills in seques- 
tered places, and are, even to this day, although in a far less 
degree. 

The god "Dagon," worshiped by the Philistines, half fish half 
man, is a perfect symbol of a god of desire, for the symbol of the 
Desire Plane is the sea. We find the materialistic Philistines wor- 
shipping the god of desire, and Israel, the nation, having sinned, 
are under their dominion for forty years (again the completed 
quaternary). Just at this time once more is the Great Helper 
found in a fleshly body. Again does he come to extricate man 
from his spiritual difficulties. 

The reader will remember that we discovered that the sun is 
used to symbolize the one occupying the position that our Christ 
occupies today, but at that time Melchizedek held that chair, 
although the succession was understood by Initiates. Samson 
(little sun) — the name establishes the identity of the ego — is son 
of a mother who is visited by an angel and is sufficiently evolved 
so that she can carry on a conversation with the supernatural 
visitor, something that takes practice, as Occultists know. She 
is the wife of "Manoah, " whose name means peace, and she is 
told to purify herself, and touch no meat, or wine, or unclean 
thing, to go near no dead body, and to devote herself to the Lord, 
for she who has been barren is to bear a child, who is to be a 
Nazerite from his birth. Note the restrictions imposed upon her, 
for they also will be in full force upon the Nazerite from birth, 
and in addition to those named he must be a celibate. 

Manoah belongs to the tribe of Dan, of whom Israel prophesied 
Dan shall be a serpent (wisdom) in the path (of the race), and 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

the serpent shall bite the heels of the horses (the animal nature), 
so that the rider falleth backward. That is, wisdom (H) shall 
check the progress of the animal nature in its desires. 

Let us look for a moment at this beautiful little love story by 
which child man might get in the literal reading a sweet and pure 
idea of love and fidelity. Manoah, the peaceful man with his 
loving wife, who is so pure that the angels of heaven come to 
converse with her. When she gets the vision she at once confides 
in her husband and he accepts the story with unwavering trust, 
thinking only the the responsibility of the charge. Note how he 
at once begins to pray that the angel may come and tell them how 
to care for the little one who is of sufficient importance for such 
unusual steps to be taken to secure proper conditions. Again the 
angel comes in response to this request, and again it is to the wife 
that he appears; but in response to her request, he kindly stays 
while she goes to call her husband, and then, when the man would 
have offered hospitality in true Oriental fashion, showing that his 
mind dwelt upon material things more than his wife's, the angel 
showed his nature by ascending in the flame, thus showing him- 
self a Sun Spirit. The story is a beautiful one and reminds one 
of the birth of Jesus, and of John the Baptist. The spiritual 
significance as well as the literal facts being very plain. 

Now let us note some of the points that give us the key to 
the inner meaning of the allegories connected with the mysterious 
character that we call Samson, that the orthodox will tell you 
drank, and associated with bad women, but that the account tells 
us " pleased God mightily." Surely there is a misunderstanding 
somewhere. We note that the home of Manoah, the home of peace, 
was between "Zorah," the place of hornets, or the hornets' nest 
(materialists are good home-makers but their tongues sometimes 
have a sting), and "Eshtaol, which means petition, prayer; so 
this home of peace lay between intense physical activity, and 
prayer. Here it was that "the Lord began to move the child." 

Before going farther let us stop and consider what it meant 
to be a Nazerite from birth. From the earliest records preserved 
to the race from any source, we infer that the Nazerite was an old 
and established custom of recognition of the power and the sanctity 
of certain individuals, who incarnated from time to time, who 
took the vow of Nazerite, in order to be released from the ordinary 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

routine of physical existence, to attend entirely to the affairs of 
God. The word is derived from Nazar, or serpent, a name given 
to the ancient wise men. 

There were two kinds of Nazerites, distinguished as the 
Nazerite of days and the Nazerite from birth. The Nazerite of 
days was one who took an oath for a certain time, until some 
deed be accomplished, after which he could go to the priest and 
have his head shaved and after offering sacrifices be absolved 
from further abstinence, and austerities, and go home and follow 
his ordinary occupation, except that he was supposed always, 
thereafter, to lead an exemplary life. But the Nazerite from 
birth was supposed to be consecrated by his parents, because of 
some understanding that such was the desire of the ego that was 
about to incarnate. Often was the end attained by a vision, or 
by some supernatural occurrence. The vow of the Nazerite from 
birth was as solemn as that given the Great High Priest, and 
any violation of the vow took as serious a ceremonial as they used 
to reinstate a Great High Priest. It looks as though the great 
Venus souls who came so many times to assist infant humanity, 
may have instituted the custom to protect themselves from the 
common material life of the people, while they stayed in the 
flesh to teach man. The people understood that the Nazerite was 
to be fed and clothed by any one of whom it was asked, for he 
was the messenger of God and must not be troubled with material 
considerations. He dressed in a certain way, and always wore 
his hair long. By this were they known. He was vowed to 
celibacy; he must keep himself pure from all defilement; must 
not go near a dead body, not even that of his own father, or 
mother, and, if by accident he should touch a dead body, a very 
strict ceremonial must be gone through with, before he could 
again serve the Lord. He was vowed to the continual service of 
God, and as the servant of the Most High, he must keep himself 
absolutely pure. For the purpose of securing this desirable result 
every detail of his life was scrupulously dictated. He must bathe 
daily, he must touch no wine, not even the fruit of the grape, 
he must eat no flesh, nor ever touch a dead body or a carcass. 

Let us keep these things in mind as we study, and see if we 
can not find a meaning that will reconcile in our minds Samson's 
being "mighty with the Lord." 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

In the first allegory in Judges xiv, 2, 7, we find him asking 
his parents to get a wife for him, of the daughters of Timnath, 
or a portion of the Philistines. He, the Nazerite, asking for a 
wife! Now we notice that his parents do not remind him of his 
vow, but object on the ground that the daughters of his own 
people should satisfy him; evidently it is not a question of 
physical women at all, but one concerning schools of Mystery, 
which were called women, widows, wives, concubines, sisters, 
daughters, according to the estimation in which they were held 
by the hierophant in charge of them, or the peculiar system of 
their teachings. Not only is Samson not reproved by his parents 
for breaking his vow in wanting a wife, but the Lord is shown 
as approving, in the words, Judge 14, 4: "For his father and 
mother knew not it was of the Lord " ; so the Lord was leading 
him. Certainly the Lord would not lead Samson to break the 
very solemn oath he had taken to remain pure in His service. 

He insists that they go down to Timnath for him; that is, 
take steps to get the school for him; and he goes to the vine- 
yards, or to spiritual exercises, to prepare himself for the new 
duty. Remember he is under oath to touch no grapes, and the 
vineyard was a common symbol referring to the cultivation of 
spirituality. 

Here he meets a young lion roaring against him (his own 
animal nature), and he slays it with no weapon. Then he, the 
Nazerite, is pictured as taking honey out of the carcass of that 
dead lion and eating it, absolutely an impossibility for a Nazerite, 
if taken literally; yet we are assured that the Lord was "with 
him mightily." Can the reader not perceive the symbol? From 
the slain animal nature, is taken the sweet fruits of the spirit, 
that he not only enjoys himself, but gives to his parents, and they 
too enjoy the spiritual food. From the dead animal nature is 
the spirit fed. 

"In the Leontica or Lion grade of Mithriaca there was a 
honey rite." (Mysteries of Mithra, by G. R. S. Mead, page 60.) 

Samson has had a great spiritual baptism, and his soul over- 
flows with the desire to give to others, so he goes to the school, 
evidently rather to impart to them of his riches, than to receive 
of them, for his conundrums show his desire to test them as to 
their knowledge in symbols and Mystery work. They cannot tell 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

what he means by "out of the eater came forth meat, out of the 
strong came forth sweet." They attempt to take advantage of 
him in unfair ways rather than own that they do not compre- 
hend, and when he perceives this spirit of being loath to acknowl- 
edge that any one knows more than themselves, he turns the 
tables upon them and tells them such truths that he slays (con- 
quers) thirty of them, and takes their garments, or their 
arguments, and sends them back at the others, to satisfy them; 
but this spirit of unteachable hostility tries him and he leaves 
them, and the wife instead of going to the home of her husband 
as she would have done had it been a physical marriage stays with 
her father and is given to his friend. 

His wife beseeching him seven days to reveal his secret, and 
at last succeeding only to betray him, shows he had some method 
of Mystery work that he tried upon them, but found them untrust- 
worthy. After a time he goes back with a kid, symbolic of a sin 
offering, but he is not allowed to enter the Mystery work, so he 
then thinks up another plan of reaching the people. 

Now comes the fox story that has so puzzled the people of the 
ages since the Mysteries have been lost to Christianity. Let us 
stop a moment and consider what use a fox would naturally play 
in an allegory. A fox is considered the most cunning of animals ; 
it quietly slips around into the most hidden places and secures 
its prey with as little danger to itself as possible. Taking the 
position that Samson, little sun, is a great teacher, who has 
shown that "he pleased the Lord mightily," as we are continually 
assured that he did, then what more probable than that he had 
many students studying under him whom he could send out two 
by two as he did two thousand years ago, bearing the torch of 
truth between them, and setting the grain and olive yards (or the 
followers of materialists and the inner schools), setting them on 
fire of the spirit, slipping about in their quiet unassuming way. 
One is reminded of the charge He gave two thousand years ago 
when He sent the disciples out, ' ' strive with no man. ' ' 

So these messengers, wise as serpents and harmless as doves, 
slip about among the people of the materialistic school, and with 
their torches of truth set on fire the error of the old doctrine, and 
it was utterly consumed; then in the enthusiasm of their Conver- 
sion, the Materialists themselves took the new inspiration to the 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

school that had rejected Samson, and burned the school and its 
promoter with the fire of spirituality, the sacred flame of truth. 
Then the account goes on to say that he smote them hip and 
thigh, with a great conquering, or he impressed upon them the 
necessity of conquering their desire natures. The thigh is ever a 
symbol of animal desire. Jacob's thigh is withered by the angel 
before he can give the new name that indicates the Second Great 
Initiation. Hermes is represented as having a golden thigh. Gold 
is the symbol of God's righteousness and wisdom. 

Samson himself has conquered the animal nature of the new 
body he is now to handle, and in the rush of the memories of his 
past existences that the victory probably brought to the Initiate 
that he was, he is fired by a strong desire to convey the truth to 
others, and he was evidently successful to a wonderful degree. 

From this struggle he retires to the cleft in the rock at Etam. 
Etam means a high cave in the mountains, probably the cave of 
Initiation, where he may have taken others if not taking an Initia- 
tion himself. 

Here in this retirement he is sought out by friends who rep- 
resent that he must allow them to pretend that they have cap- 
tured him, in order to take him back to the people who need him 
too sorely to be deserted now that they are all stirred up. So 
he consents to pretend to be their prisoner, that he may get the 
opportunity to get at the people. The "Spirit of the Lord 
descends upon him mightily" and he takes the moist jawbone of 
an ass (or the sympathetic common talk of the common people), 
and smote (converted) a thousand people. We have a survival of 
this use of jawbone in the usage of the vulgar man when he 
speaks of "jawing" his wife. The "Kabbalah" says: "Bearing 
iniquity on the one side and passing over transgressions on the 
other side is called His Jawbones in Scripture." Here we have 
the probable text for Samson's discourse. 

Then he, the High Initiate, says: "I thirst, shall I die of 
thirst?" (for the higher wisdom). Must I, an Initiate, spend my 
time talking these simple truths to the simple-minded people? 
Then suddenly his eyes are opened and he perceives a stream of 
wisdom flowing out of that very jawbone he had used, sufficient 
to assuage even his thirst. The truths he had given out seemed 
so very obvious, that he wondered that he needed to state them; 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

yet this second view of them showed him the grand and glorious 
reality that stood behind those statements of God's love and 
mercy that mitigates the judgment of man, and his soul is 
refreshed as he sees that the first day of man's progress is as 
good in God's eyes as the last. 

Translators have had a puzzling time with this passage, for 
even the most conservative could but perceive the inconsistency 
in having a Nazerite use a bone from a carcass as a weapon, but 
to have a stream of water spring up out of the old bone, and he 
with his vow of purification to drink out of it and yet be mightily 
assisted by the Lord, presented unsurmountable difficulties; so 
they assumed that the place where the battle was fought might 
have resembled a jawbone, in the curve of the hill, and they very 
considerately caused the water to flow up out of the ground to save 
Samson's reputation for cleanliness. 

But Samson had conquered the body, and its needs would not 
have caused him to break his vow. The needs of the body do not 
disturb him. All that he craves is Divine Wisdom, and this he 
finds can be found in all of its strength and purity just as well 
in the dealings of the father with the child soul, as with the 
Initiate. He sees that, as Krishna taught, the Divine Law is 
perfect no matter upon which plane it may be studied. That the 
first day of creation is as good in God's eyes as the last. 

We find this thirst for Divine Wisdom brought out strongly 
in the next allegory, Chapter xv of Judges. In this chapter he 
goes to Gaza, which means strong, a strong center of religious 
teachings evidently. He goes in unto a harlot. The reader will 
remember that the word harlot was a common symbol for a school 
of wisdom that accepted truths from various sources. Evidently 
Samson wants to study the various systems of religion. 

The people of Gaza (strong) say, ''Let be till morning light 
and we will kill him," or wait until he comes into the light of 
our teachings, and we will conquer him, but at midnight, or 
long before they supposed possible, he had taken their gates, pull- 
ing the posts up out of the ground, and carried them off on his 
back to Hebron, or the league of great Hierophants. He had 
appropriated all of the strong points of their philosophy and left 
them defenceless. 

After studying the different philosophies he finds a school in 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Sorek. Now Sorek means choice wine; as wine is a symbol of 
spirituality, we may infer that this school has some method of 
training the spiritual faculties, the only thing that would have 
tempted Samson, and from what follows it may be inferred that 
they taught the negative methods of trance work. In Judges xvi, 
beginning with the fourth verse, we read: "And it came to pass 
afterward that he loved a woman in the valley, or by the brook 
of Sorek. Woman means symbolically Mystery work, brook 
symbolizes wisdom; so he is interested in the school of wisdom 
called Delilah. 

The meaning of the word Delilah is lost in antiquity, the only 
meanings given in the dictionaries being those derived from the 
literal reading of the allegory. It is possible that the Greek word 
Delphi may have come from the same ancient root primarily. 
At any rate, that word conveyed to the mind of the ancient at 
the time of Ezra the idea of the oracle at Delphi, who gave 
her prophecies in a trance condition. This is a guess, of course, 
but it looks as though there was some connection between the 
words as we note that Samson goes to sleep on Delilah's knees. 
It seems probable that the school taught negative methods of 
development. 

This method, while it opened the Astral Plane to the student, 
has the danger attendant upon it that the student may be deceived 
by the illusions of the plane, and may also become obsessed. One 
may infer from the previous experiences of Samson that he was 
able to function consciously upon the higher planes, and that he 
pretended to become unconscious while making his investigations 
in the Delilah school, but at each attempt to entrap him he showed 
plainly that it was but a ruse. Being able to function consciously 
there was no need of trance work, and when he allowed himself 
to be overcome by the arguments of the school and really went 
into a trance condition, he, by that act, proved false to his 
Nazerite vow, and put his eyes out upon the higher planes ; that is, 
he made himself the victim of hypnotism, which interfered with 
his doing the work in the old positive fashion. But after finding 
that this method causes him to be the prisoner of the Philistines, 
or the progressive materialists, he regains his strength by the 
growth of his hair, or by the renewal of his Nazerite vows, regains 
his own pure spiritual insight again and easily discriminates 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

between the true and the false. There is a great occult truth 
hidden in this story, that all who are seeking to unfold along 
spiritual lines should understand. If one opens up by the culti- 
vation of the soul virtues first, then the consciousness being in 
touch w T ith the higher planes, is guarded against the errors inci- 
dent to the Astral Plane; so Samson could not be bound long by 
Astral illusions for his higher plane consciousness must reveal 
to him the errors in the methods of Astral trance work. One 
opening up in the negative way, becomes the slave of some will 
other than his own. Samson allowed his hair to be shorn ; that is, 
he ignored the true source of his strength, which his hair sym- 
bolized, his ability to consciously function upon the different 
planes, to see what the methods used by the school would bring 
forth, and he finds that such methods close his eyes upon the 
higher planes, and not until his hair grows, or his spiritual 
vibrations are re-established, can he have the strength to assert 
himself; but when that is done he breaks the pillars upon which 
the whole structure of their teachings rest, and the negative 
methods developing the desire nature is conquered or put a stop 
to, and he demonstrates that he knows the proper methods. 

He says, "Let my Soul die with the Philistines." He had 
killed his animal nature when he killed the lion, he has now 
conquered the Astral Plane, and in one great struggle he says 
let my Soul die; that is, he finishes the conquest of the Mental 
Plane, the Soul is now the vehicle for the God that he is. He is 
Master of all planes of matter, he has attained the right to go 
into retirement to serve humanity from the secret places as the 
Christs ever do, he was buried in the home of peace. 

When the physical body of Samson really died we are not 
told, for the physical body is of little importance in the spiritual 
reading of the allegories, except as it serves to develop the higher 
consciousness. In such stories as this, have the Masters hidden 
the truths, that, as our intuition develops, will be revealed to our 
astonished gaze, giving us just the hints needed to guide us into 
the light of true understanding, and enable us to attain the great 
spiritual strength of Samson, the little sun, our Great Loving 
Elder Brother, our Christ, today. 

Here we have seen the Great One conquer the last of his 
vehicles that needs to be conquered to make him one of the 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

anointed, or a Messiah. As Jacob he was given the Second Great 
Initiation, as Aaron he received the third, as Samson he crucifies 
all, or takes the Fourth Great Initiation. In this life we note 
he has to pass through all again, or recall the preceding ones. 
So "Samson pleased God mightily." Is it not plainly to be 
seen why? 

The next incarnation in which we find the great entity whom 
we call the Christ, is shown in the allegories telling of the doings 
of David. 

Here let me explain that it may be possible that the Jews had, 
away back in the past some time, a king that they called David, 
but I fancy he would be extremely astonished to find himself 
confused with the David that the allegories deal with. Even as 
our descriptive "Napoleons of finance" would have no meaning 
had there been no warrior Napoleon who impressed upon the 
world the fact that he was unique, so there may have been a 
traditional David about whom the Jew had woven many tales in 
the course of the ages and this gave to Ezra and his inspirers just 
the right kind of a story under which to hide the occult knowl- 
edge, and at the same time cultivate the patriotism of the race 
that they were to lead out of slavery. It is very significant to 
find that Jeshua (Jesus), Noahdiah (Noah the beloved of God), 
and Moses, Ezra iv, 3, and Eleazar (Master Koot Hoomi), 
Ezra vii, 33, were Ezra's helpers at this time. What more natural 
than that they should have rewritten the Books of the Law, as it 
is stated that they did? That the incidents recorded happened 
at some date before they were compiled is, of course, certain, but 
the exact date of any of them cannot be proven. That Ezra lived 
during a part of the life of the great Buddha, is probable, accord- 
ing to history, and that the great religious enthusiasm of the 
period must have reached Babylon is equally sure. Ezra was an 
Initiate, as were many of his associates, Daniel among them. 
That his nation was freed from their bondage at this time was 
undoubtedly due to the great events that had revolutionized the 
religious thought of the day. What more natural than that they 
should have woven some of these events into their new Book of 
the Law that was to furnish the Scripture of the new fifth root 
race, and give to the new people the true Mystery teaching, hidden 
in these stories, giving them a record that they would eventually 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST 1 

find complete when they arrive at the point of evolution sufficient 
to comprehend the full meaning. 

The King David stories seem to date from this period. But, 
says some one, you do not mean to say you are putting King David 
in the same age as the Buddha, when David lived about 1000 b. c. 
and the Buddha only between 562 and 482 approximately? I 
answer, an allegory illustrating a truth is a different thing from 
literal history, although usually based upon historic occurrences 
may be transferred to any age. However, from the symbolic read- 
ing of these allegories the teaching seems to be that this David 
really did live at the same time that Buddha did, and that he 
was the same entity that we now call the Christ. 

Paul testifies to the truth of this in Hebrews x, 5 : 

"Wherefore when He (Christ) cometh into the world, he saith, 

Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, 

But a body didst thou prepare for me; 

In whole burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin thou hadst no 
pleasure ; 

Then I said, Lo I come to do Thy will, God. 

In the roll of the book it written of me." 

The translators all seem to agree that this XL Psalm was 
written by David, and Paul is speaking of Christ when he says: 
"When he cometh into the world He saith this." 

Many traces of the Aryan origin of these stories still cling to 
them in spite of the Hebrew coloring that has been given them, 
and if one gets the full magnitude of the scheme of man's evolu- 
tion, it will make no difference whether the incidents recorded 
took place in India or in Palestine. The important thing is to 
get at the truths they teach, and get a clear understanding of the 
great good law, at once the most perfect, the most just, the most 
soul satisfying that it is possible to conceive. 

Let us take a moment considering the meaning of the symbols 
used to bring the David stories before us. Saul (symbol of the 
established religion of that day), of the tribe of Benjamin, "the 
wolf that raveneth," the church that swallows everything that 
comes near it. You will see later on how it tries to swallow, or 
appropriate, the heroic deeds of Jonathan, and tries to swallow 
David by putting him in charge of the Mystery work; the wolf 
that raveneth is surely a fitting name. Saul is introduced to us 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

as hunting his father's asses, or looking after the common people 
who have strayed from the church fold. "He stands head and 
shoulders above his brethren," by far the most promising religious 
movement of the age ; and Samuel the Great Initiator, thinks that 
by giving the old church a new spiritual impulse that it may do 
to start the new fifth root race upon its career. So Saul is 
taken to the mount of spirituality when he is anxious over his 
father's lost asses (common people), and Samuel sets before him 
the choicest spiritual viands he has, to fortify him for the new 
work. Soon, however, Saul demonstrates that he is unfit for the 
work. He is helpless in the presence of the giant materialism 
that assails him on every hand. He finds that his materialistic 
armor is not proof against Goliath, and David throws it aside 
when it is handed to him. Saul also shows a lack of obedience and 
reverence in presumptuously daring to take the place of Samuel. 
Here again we see that desire to swallow everything, he will 
usurp even the place of the Great Initiator. He does not under- 
stand the true ideal of the fifth root race. To him the great ideal 
of a religion is power. 

How different is David. He is found caring for his father's 
sheep (the fifth race people) on the spiritual hillsides. He is 
fearless because of his perfect confidence in God, and because he 
has slain his lion (conquered his stars — in this incarnation he 
was born under Leo), and killed his bear (his animal nature). 
He has no use for Saul's material armor, so he picks up a few 
stones from the brook of wisdom, and throws them with the simple 
directness of a teacher (the shepherd's sling), and the great giant 
falls face downward. Materialism is conquered by a pebble of 
God's truth, for it sinks into the forehead, or the comprehension, 
and then David takes Goliath's own sword, or his own arguments, 
the truths he has himself perceived to complete the victory. Thus 
does illumination come from the true wisdom of God, penetrating 
to the understanding when material considerations are left entirely 
out of sight. The giant materialism falls powerless when he sees 
the truth and perceives the scientific facts fall into their natural 
places. 

The people are quick to see the superiority of David, and sing 
"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.' ' 
This arouses the jealousy of Saul (the established church), and 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

he at once sees the necessity of swallowing this promising youth, 
so Michael, the daughter, or the inner Mystery work, is given to 
David, that, as Saul is represented to say, "she may be a snare 
to him"; that is, keep him busy in the regular church. 

Remember, David came through the line of Jesse (wealthy). 
He came through the line of the spiritually wealthy, of the tribe 
of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, whom Jacob blessed with the 
words, "Thee will all Israel bless, and will pray God make thee 
as Ephraim and Mannassah; and he places Ephraim first." So 
the line is unbroken from Israel himself through the psychic son 
of Rachel (Master K. H.). 

He makes strenuous efforts to restore the Ark of the Covenant 
to the people, to get them to appreciate the value of striving to 
attain the perfect ideal, but his first efforts end disastrously 
because of the lack of purity of the ones he is training (they reach 
out impure hands to steady the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol 
of the perfect man, and are killed by the vibrations of purity 
emanating from that marvelous symbol). This puts a check upon 
his enthusiasm for awhile, for he fears that it is too soon to 
expect so much. Later on, when the Ark is about to really be 
restored to Israel again, he dances naked, that is, naked of bodies, 
or naked of earthly possessions. Certain Initiates were called 
the naked, because they renounced all worldly possessions. David 
probably danced naked of bodies, that is, in spirit. He danced 
at the thought of the true ideal being restored to the people. But 
his wife, Saul's daughter, despises him in her heart, because of 
this attitude, for it meant that he intended to admit to the 
Mysteries all who were ready, instead of admitting only the 
privileged few, as the conservative old church had settled down 
to doing. When she protests he tells her he will still further 
debase himself before the Lord; that is, he will humble himself to 
any extent for the good of the people. We are told that Michael 
had no children from that day. The old Mystery work was too 
set in its prejudices to meet with the demands made necessary by 
the advance of the new race; therefore no Initiates came from the 
old school from that day, the crown had been placed upon David's 
head, and his school was to develop the ideal of the fifth root 
race up to its highest standard. 

All will remember the cruel tests to which Saul subjected 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

David, chasing him from pillar to post, from cave to cave, ever 
striving to kill him, and how David often had an opportunity to 
kill Saul, but ever resisted the temptation to lay hand upon the 
Lord's anointed. The reader will also remember how David tried 
to charm away the evil spirit of Saul by making sweet music for 
him, or by trying to harmonize his new methods with the old 
dogmas, trying ever to harmonize, never to antagonize; but the 
old religion would have none of it. Saul ever tried to kill David. 
The old church would not change, would not progress. 

That I am right in assuming that the established church is 
symbolized by the character of Saul, is accidentally testified by 
the statement of the translators themselves in I Sam. xin, 1. It 
says: "Saul was years old when he began to reign," and in the 
margin we are told that, as no number of years were given in the 
original, the translators inserted the number forty, as that was 
a probable age for a man to assume the crown. But suppose we 
assume that this is a mystical history of the fifth root race, and 
read it as written : ' ' Saul was years old when he began to reign, ' ' 
or the established church was ages old when it began to reign over 
the fifth root race people, and when he had reigned two years, or 
through the first two sub races of the fifth root race, he chose 
three thousand men of Israel (the spiritually minded ones of 
the new race), whereof two thousand were with Saul in Mich- 
mash (or treasure house of spiritual things), and in Mount Bethel 
(mount, spiritual elevation; Bethel, Temple of God). So these 
favored ones were on the spiritual heights in the Temple of God, 
and the others were dwelling in the treasure house of spiritual 
things. Two thousand were with Saul, and the other thousand 
were with Jonathan in Gibeah, or on the spiritual heights of 
Benjamin (the wolf that raveneth, or swallows everything she 
can get — the religion that takes in all new truths and makes it a 
part of itself if possible). Jonathan, the eldest son, the prince 
of the ancient church, was the one whom we know as the Buddha, 
whom the Bible mentions in another place as Melchizedek. With 
this majestic personage, upon the spiritual heights of the ancient 
religion of the fourth root race, the perfect example of what it 
might produce, did it but stay faithful to its early teachings ; were 
a thousand of the highly evolved of the new fifth root race. 
Could the old church only live up to the ideal of her founder, 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST 7 

there would be no need of any interference, but the church as a 
whole cannot rise to the altitude of its noblest son, and he recog- 
nizes the necessity of breaking up the old form which has become 
too crystallized to be useful to train the new race. This is one 
of the religions that he himself helped to found in the past ages, 
but he is here now to help start a new impulse to quicken religious 
growth. 

How beautifully the characteristics of the old church are 
brought out, keeping up the reputation of the wolf that raveneth. 
Jonathan with his thousand devoted spiritual followers, conquers 
the materialism of Geba, and they make a great reputation among 
the Philistines; so Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, 
saying, let the people hear, and all Israel heard that Saul had 
smitten the garrison at Geba. Thus did the old church swallow 
up the Buddha and his fifth root race followers, calling the vic- 
tories his, although they were gained by methods exactly the 
reverse of those he practiced. Thus does he gratify his desire. 

David is chased from cave to cave ; from caves of Initiation or 
spiritual retreats, where the malice of the old church drives him 
to seek refuge; and he draws about him all those who are dis- 
satisfied with the existing order of things, ail who are sufficiently 
evolved to understand him. 

The women spoken of are schools of Mystery work that he 
taught the true methods of development. Those who accept the 
truth in its fullness are spoken of as wives. They bring to him 
presents of bread and wine, or such physical and spiritual gifts 
as they have to offer, and in return he takes them into his heart, 
and teaches them the greater Mysteries, giving them the spiritual 
baptism that makes them one with him. 

The names prove that these women are not women at all: 
Michael means "who is like unto God," Abigail means "father 
of exaltation" (not even in the feminine gender), Ahinoam means 
"brother of exaltation." 

Nabal (foolish) is evidently the exoteric work of a certain 
locality which rejects the overtures of David, but the inner 
Mystery work recognizes the authority of the Great One and 
offers him hospitality. Later Abigail (father of exaltation) be- 
comes his wife, or his favorite group of Mystery workers. 

Let us take a little notice of the story of Bath-Sheba (daughter 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

of an oath is the meaning of the word). Uriah means "my light 
is Lord Jehovah"; this locates the work represented. It is the 
religious work of the Hittites. Uriah is the exoteric church, and 
Bath-Sheba the inner or Mystery work. David is upon the house- 
top, or is working upon the upper planes, when his notice is 
attracted by the careful purifying process that the school of 
Bath-Sheba is teaching. You remember he sees her bathing in 
the fountain (of wisdom) and is much pleased with her appear- 
ance. Why? Because he saw that they were really purifying 
their subtile bodies and were very earnest in their desire to become 
perfect. So he sends for them and lies with them, or teaches them 
the full Mystery work, until they are one with him (wives sym- 
bolically. We have an echo of this use of the word lie in our 
"lay to it" to indicate persevering effort. So well do they receive 
the teaching that an Initiate (child) is born very soon. Uriah, 
the exoteric workers come, and David tells them to go to their own 
inner work and purify themselves, "Go to his house and wash 
his feet ' ' ; but their idea is, that in fidelity rather than purification 
lies their chance for growth, and they refuse to leave the king's 
door. Seeing this devotion, David does reward them; he invites 
them in to the kitchen, the only plane of consciousness that they 
can function on, and makes them drunken (spiritually), then 
sends them out in the thick of the controversial fight between 
the fifth race exponents of doctrine and the Ammonites (possibly 
these Ammonites were the Egyptian school, who called their god 
Amnion Ra, or they may have been Lot's descendents), the 
spiritual-mountaineers of the fourth root race, hoping that they 
will be conquered (convinced), and they are. 

David makes Bath-Sheba his wife, or his favorite band of 
Mystery workers, placing them at the head of all the schools along 
that line. But the Lord Jehovah objects. Why? Because the 
Lord Jehovah is looking after the natural evolution of each race, 
and for the more advanced fifth root race to take up a fourth 
root race work and give it this prominence, while it may be good 
for the Hittites, is certainly somewhat of a hindrance to the fifth 
race, for the Hittite must of necessity drag somewhat because of 
immaturity. David, while admitting that he has sinned against 
evolution or against the physical law, yet because of the great love 
he bears the lower race, fasts and tries everything in his power 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

to make the child that is born of the union live; but the Hittite 
nature is too little evolved to stand the strain of the drastic 
measures of the higher work, and the first Initiate dies. 

As Jacob, David has supplanted Esau, getting the blessing 
that really belonged to the elder brother; as David, he returns 
the blessing, by favoring Bath-Sheba and giving the race of Esau 
the first and strongest support in their mystery work. Thus is 
the ancient debt paid. Thus also is his vow to Jonathan kept. 

The second Initiate is Solomon (harmony), renamed by Lord 
Jehovah, Jedidiah (beloved by Jehovah). So from the great love 
of the Messiah of the fifth root race, is the impulse given to give 
all of the races the same opportunity to attain, and from this 
union of races is born the Great One who is to be the Messiah of 
the sixth root race, Solomon, Master Koot Hoomi. David, the 
Christ of the fifth root race, in his great love, unites the races in 
a great bond of brotherly love, and will through the ages gather 
the living stones, or the perfected humans (Masters), supply 
the mortar of universal love, and the "pillars that go no more 
out"; and Solomon (harmony, beloved of God) will fashion this 
material gathered by David into the great Temple of the living 
God, eternal in the heavens, which shall be completed in seven 
years, or seven races, when will come the Great Rest Day, the 
millennium, or the pralaya of the Hindoo. 

Let us look for a moment at the so-called sons of David: The 
meaning of the word Absolom is "my father is peace," and 
indicates who David is, the Prince of Peace. 

To understand the story of Absolom it is necessary to consider 
the condition of things that faced David in that incarnation. All 
of the systems of religions taught in their Mysteries the descent 
of Spirit into matter and the means by which it was to gain its 
freedown from the thraldom of the flesh. In those early days of 
the race the physical was much more vigorous than it is today, 
and, naturally, the struggle to subdue the physical propensities 
was much fiercer than anything we know of. In the course of ages 
the reason for the struggle became lost, to a great extent in the 
intensity of the struggle itself, and man forgot that he was being 
taught this secret to enable him to assist his brother to attain also, 
so intent was he upon his own struggle. In order to accomplish 
this with as little distraction as possible, he retired into monas- 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

teries in remote places away from the temptations of ordinary life. 
David (Christ), then, as later, taught the Mysteries, but taught 
men that the development was to enable them to assist their 
brothers, and that in loving service the same effects might be 
attained in regard to self control and purifying the subtile bodies, 
as by ascetic discipline. He has ever taught the Gospel of Love. 
Though he taught the disciples in the house and warned them 
not to cast their pearls before swine, yet he sent them out to 
preach the good news according to what the people were able to 
stand. The conservative teachings of all old religions after the 
crystallizing process has begun has always been "Come ye out 
from among them," but the great loving heart of the Master ever 
has taught "Go ye out among them." 

In the David incarnation the Master was a warrior for God, 
or an aggressive exponent of truth, striving ever to correct error, 
seeking ever to serve the people, and sending out such strong love 
vibrations that his people often speak of him as being "like unto 
an angel of God." 

When Absolom tries to wrench the kingdom from him by 
violence, he will not strive with him, but flies from him. Absolom 
is trying to gain the kingdom of his father, which is the Christ 
consciousness, but he consults with others rather than David, and 
is advised to go in unto his father's concubines, that is, study in 
the schools that have only partially accepted David's views, rather 
than study under David himself. Unselfish service does not 
attract, if he can attain some other way. David is greatly pained 
by this attitude of Absolom, as he knows that what he seeks can 
be gained only through the path of love, and he realizes how 
great a teacher Absolom would make would he but be guided 
aright. Absolom, therefore, would take the kingdom of heaven 
by violence, or by certain practices that were taught in some of 
the schools, rather than by devoting himself in unselfish service 
to others, and the Great Prince of Peace flies from him in grief, 
for not to such methods can the real Christ consciousness respond. 
Absolom traveling through the forest of Ephraim (among the 
teachers of another school), on the spiritual hilltops where he 
was fighting his battle, gets his hair tangled in the boughs of a 
great oak. It will be remembered that we found that a great 
oak is a symbol of a strong teacher, and that long hair was 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

the sign of a Nazerite, in this case probably a Nazerite of days. 
Absolom had probably taken the Nazerite vow not to cut his hair 
until he found what he was after. After he has caught his hair 
or has given his Nazerite vow of fidelity to the great teacher of 
this other school, and submits to its discipline, then his mule (his 
animal nature) left him, and then it was that the arrows of truth 
shot by the leader of his father's forces pierce him to the heart; 
but now it is too late. He is by his vow buried under the Stones 
(Masters) of Ephraim. That is, he is vowed to the inner work 
of a conservative school. And David grieves at the loss of such a 
strong, vigorous teacher as Absolom would have made to have 
strengthened the new impulse that he was trying to give the 
religious teachings of the day. Absolom is pictured as being 
greatly beloved by the common people, consequently his power 
would have been great. 

Adonijah, another son of David, is pictured as trying to get 
the kingdom of his father. Adonijah is the Hebrew for Adonis. 
The meaning is "my Lord is Jehovah," significant when we 
remember that Adonis was a god of nature, and at this time he 
was one of the most popular gods of the Orient. He is represented 
in the allegories as endeavoring to win the whole race by his 
sweet and winsome ways, and is pictured as inviting all of the 
most prominent men to a feast in order to gain their support to 
his cause. This is told to David by Bath-Sheba, the school of 
wisdom that he had won from the Hittites, from which union is 
born Solomon (Jedidiah, Harmony, beloved of God), to whom 
the kingdom has been promised by David. 

When David hears that Adonijah aspires to the universal 
kingdom, or being the spiritual king over all of the nations, he 
proclaims that to Solomon alone has that succession been given. 
Solomon (Master Koot Hoomi) is to succeed himself as Messiah. 
You will remember that Solomon's first prayer is for wisdom, and 
he is told that because he asked for that he shall have all things. 
By wisdom, born of harmony, beloved of God, will be built the 
great Temple of the living God. When Solomon is proclaimed 
the Great King, Adonijah is frightened and grasps the horns of 
the altar for protection, but wisdom begotten of harmony of all 
creeds is now the ruler, and Solomon simply sends him home with 
the injunction to sin not; that is, he is to do his work upon his 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

own plane, and do it as well as he can. Wisdom recognizes the 
rights of all, and would force none. Each of the branches of the 
religious work has its place, Solomon only stipulates that he shall 
give out true teachings. So wisdom, begotten from harmony, 
beloved of God, starts the building of the great Temple of the 
Living God eternal in the heavens, in which it is destined that 
each of us will be placed as living stones hewn and polished at 
the quarry and ready to be placed where we belong without sound 
of hammer. And some of us may be pillars that will go no more 
out. We have not the space to handle the rest of the sons, but 
this will suffice to show the allegorial trend of the story. 

But to go back to David. We see him in sweetness and 
patience bidding God's time; while Saul does as he will; knowing 
that he has received the anointing that makes him the spiritual 
king of the new root race, yet nevertheless submitting to the most 
humiliating experiences, and in no way trying to push himself 
into notice or claiming his right to the throne. 

In I Sam. xvm we are told that when David had ceased telling 
who he was, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of 
David, and he loved him as his own soul. This story, no matter 
from what plane it has been read, has given to the world one of 
the most beautiful and inspiring conceptions of the possibilities of 
love between man and man that can be found in literature. That 
this exquisite example should have been set the race by the two 
Great Masters of Love and Compassion, the great spiritual leaders 
of the fourth and fifth root races, seems most fitting. Who could 
so well show forth the true spirit of love and devotion. 

Before we go farther perhaps we had better stop long enough 
to show our grounds for the assumption that Jonathan is the 
incarnation of the one whom we call Gautama Buddha. 

In "Inner Life," Mr. Leadbeater tells us that, "When our 
planet reached the place where it should provide a Buddha from 
the fruits of its own humanity, no one was found competent to 
fill the place." 

"Two Great Ones stood together at the head of the race, at 
the level of the Bodhisattva (Messiah) degree Gautama Buddha, the 
Bodhisattva (Messiah) of the fourth root race, and Lord Maitreya, 
or the one whom we call the Christ. Gautama, because of his 
great love for humanity, decided to take the tremendous tests 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

necessary to qualify him for the position, and gave the position of 
Messiah to our Christ, whom he dearly loved. This happened in 
the incarnation in which we know him as Gautama. 

With these facts in mind, let us see what we find in the xiv 
chapter of I Sam. It says: "Now it fell upon a day that Jona- 
than, the son of Saul, said unto his armor-bearer (his heart), 
come let us go over to the Philistine garrison, that is on yonder 
side." Philistine means emigrants, or travelers, so the suggestion 
is, let us go over to the stronghold of those who are on the other 
side, as regards attainment, and undertake the conquest of the 
spiritual truths needed to establish myself. 

He was not expected to do this, for "he told not his father," 
Saul, and the third verse states that "the people knew not that 
Jonathan was gone. ' ' Now come the tests : 

4th verse: "And between the passes by which Jonathan 
sought to go over unto the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky 
crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side, and the 
name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other was Senah. 
The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash" (house of 
treasure) "and the other crag rose in front of Geba" (spiritual 
elevation). 

There is a significance in these crags, rocks they are, "estab- 
lished in strength." Bozez means this very thing, and Senah 
means thorny strength. To realize the full significance one needs 
to recall the symbolism of the Temple of Solomon. The reader 
will remember that upon each side of the door of the inner sanct- 
uary was a pillar, one named Boaz, and one named Jachim, the 
meaning of these two words being exactly the same as Bozez and 
Senah. In the ritual of the temple the priest came out of his 
cell on the north, symbolic of the physical, and another came from 
a cell on the south of the door, or the spiritual, and the two 
entered together through the east door, symbolic of the intellect, 
on their journey toward the west, where the Ark of God, or the 
symbol of the perfect man, sat. Do you not grasp the symbolism ? 
The physical, desire nature, and the spiritual must join hands, 
and enter through the door of intelligent comprehension of law 
to attain perfection. And they must pass between the two great 
forces established in strength, the Priest, Great White Force, and 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Patriarch, the Great Black Force, or the positive and negative 
forces, one tending to discouragement, because of its thorns. 

"So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer" (his heart) "let us 
show ourselves" (that is, show my willingness), "and it may be 
that the Lord will work for us." "Then Jonathan said, behold 
we will pass over and disclose ourselves unto the men, and if they 
say unto us tarry, until we come to you, then will we stand in 
our place, and not go up unto them." He will see if the Great 
ones think he can accomplish the feat, and then do as he is 
directed, sure of the help of God in either case. "But if they 
say to us come up to us, then will we go up, for the Lord hath 
delivered them into our hand; and this shall be a sign unto us." 

So he showed himself and received the invitation to make the 
effort, and he said "the Lord hath delivered them into the hand 
of Israel" (the prince that prevails with God). And Jonathan 
climbs up upon his hands and feet, a steep hard climb, and con- 
quered every obstacle, and there was great slaughter, or a great 
victory, and no one could stand before him. His spiritual 
strength was overwhelming. In Yerse 15 we are told that "there 
was a great trembling in the camp, and in the field, and among 
all the people; even the earth quaked, so there was an exceeding 
great trembling. And the multitude melted away." His enemies 
disappeared. 

Now Saul, the established church, begins to see that something 
has happened. The enemies of spirituality have been put to rout. 
Who has done this thing? He has his people numbered to see 
who is missing, and it is discovered that Jonathan alone is absent. 
Saul calls for the Ark to be brought, and consults the ancient 
symbol, while Jonathan the reality, the man perfected, wins the 
victory by living the life, causing the enemy to fight among them- 
selves, defeating their own cause. Farther on we are told that 
the men of Israel, the highly evolved fifth root race men, who 
had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim, or on the spiritual 
heights, came out and helped in the struggle. ' ' So the Lord saved 
Israel" (the prince that prevails with God) "that day," while 
the old church was bowing before the ancient symbol of what had 
now actually come into existence, without realizing at all the sig- 
nificance of what was happening. 

Verse 24 reads: "And the men of Israel were distressed that 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST « 

day, for Saul had adjured the people saying, cursed be the man 
that eateth anything until I be avenged upon my enemies. ' ' After 
the ancient usage he calls for a fast, and his followers all obey, 
but Jonathan not knowing of the command takes some honey 
and eats of it. Read I Sam. xiv from the 27th verse. I have 
not the time to enter into it, but surely here is an allegory showing 
that he stood for doing away with unnecessary punishment of the 
body, even as the Buddha did. The ancient church would have 
put him to death but the love of the people protected him. 

Jonathan takes the honey upon the rod in his hand, the rod of 
Initiation, and at once he experiences illumination, and realizes 
that the fast, weakening the physical, prevents the best work, and 
he thus expresses himself. That he was right is shown by the fact 
that as soon as the restriction is lifted the people in their haste 
to supply their necessities eat the animals killed in their blood, 
a great sin in the eyes of the ancients. Thus it is demonstrated 
that enforced fasts cause the people to sin. 

When David returned from slaying the great giant of 
materialism with a pebble of God's wisdom, Saul asked him who 
he was, and he answered that he was the son of Jesse (wealthy, 
great spiritual possessions) the Bethlehemite (or from the house 
of bread, or the Temple of God) . To put it more plainly, he had 
come through a line of great spirituality directly from the temple 
service of the ages. 

I Sam. 18: "And it came to pass, when he had made an end 
to speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with 
the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul, 
and Saul took him that day and would let him go no more home 
to his father's house" (swallowed him). 

3. "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he 
loved him as his own soul." 

4. "And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon 
him, and gave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword, to his 
bow, and to his girdle"; that is, he turned over to David all of his 
ensignia of rank as Messiah. 

5. "And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him" 
(worked patiently in the established church), "and behaved him- 
self wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war" (gave him 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

the aggressive spiritual work to do), "and it pleased all of the 
people. ' ' 

15. "When Saul saw that he behaved himself wisely he stood 
in awe of him." 

16. "But all Israel" (fifth root race people, who were 
spiritually minded), "and Judah" (the Jews) "loved David." 

David has a hard time, being chased from pillar to post by 
the narrow conservatism of the established religion, but in spite 
of the persecution he gathers quite a band about him, and has 
two schools of inner work that he has been able to educate in the 
greater Mysteries, which he calls wives. Many times he has an 
opportunity to stretch forth his hand and take the kingdom from 
Saul, but always does he refrain from asserting himself, waiting 
the time of the Great Ones. His character is attested by the 
words of Achish in I Sam., Chapter xxix, Verse 9: "I know thou 
art good as an angel of God." His treatment of Shimei, after 
his reviling him, as he was fleeing from Absolom, shows that his 
policy was ever one of forgiveness, where the individual was con- 
cerned, but in handling the great errors of metaphysical reason- 
ing, he "slew" or conquered hosts of enemies. The battles fought 
by David were bloodless; they were battles of brain rather than 
brawn, of spirit rather than flesh. He was the great warrior of 
the Lord, fighting to establish the true Mysteries again upon the 
earth; going from one ancient school to another, trying to purge 
them of the errors that had crept into them. 

We find that David took the throne only upon the death of 
Jonathan, which agrees exactly with the Hindoo account of the 
transfer of the Bodhisattvic, or Messianic, position to Lord 
Maitreya (our Christ). In II Sam. i we find a very beautiful 
tribute to Jonathan and the old religion, or Saul. 

"Thy Gazell, Israel, is slain upon thy high places"; that is, 
thy swift traveling one (Buddha) is conquered by thy high 
spiritual possibilities. 

"How are the mighty fallen" (conquered). 

"Tell it not in Gath" (the capitol of the Philistines, or pro- 
gressive materialism). 

"Publish it not in Ashkelon" (stronghold of black art), 

"Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice" (not under- 
standing), 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

"Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised " (the impure) 
' ' triumph. ' ' 

"Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives," 

"And in their death they were not divided," 

"They were swifter than the eagles" (eagles fly swifter and 
higher than any other bird), 

"They were stronger than the lion." 

"Ye daughters of Israel" (Aryan or fifth root race) 

"Weep over Saul" (pay proper respect for the old religion, 
although you are getting more advanced ideas), "for" 

"She clothed you with scarlet delicately" (she looked lovingly 
after your needs up to this time). 

"Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel" (gold 
means righteousness, wisdom). 

"How are the mighty conquered, in the midst of battle" (or 
struggle). 

"Jonathan is conquered upon thy high places" (Planes of 
high spirituality) . 

"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan" (he misses 
his personal presence), 

"Very pleasant hast thou been unto me, 

Thy love to me was wonderful, 

Passing the love of woman. 

How are the mighty conquered, 

And the weapons of war perished." (The arguments of the 
old order of things are so weakened that they have lost their 
power before the higher ideals that have now become established.) 

David, however, is not yet to have peace, for old abuses are 
strongly entrenched although the Buddha's teachings have done 
much to assist him ; yet this entire incarnation is one of ceaseless 
struggle against wrong ideas of how to gain the higher con- 
sciousness, or the kingdom. David is working not only with Jews 
remember, but with the fifth root race, or the Ayran race. He is 
a mighty warrior before the Lord, but, as said before, you may 
rest assured that this David never shed one drop of human or 
any other blood; the battles he fought were all of them spiritual 
and intellectual. It was the true mysticism fighting against 
crystallized dogma and priest-craft. The cold, calculating, self- 
centered, unsympathetic, unapproachable aesthetic, who considered 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

the whole object of life to be the purifying of the vehicles for the 
purpose of attaining the higher consciousness for the advance- 
ment of self, must be made to realize that this training was of use 
only as it made of man a tender-hearted sympathizing elder 
brother ready to extend a helping hand to the younger brethren. 
So David taught, even as he did in his later incarnation, that 
by loving service will the purification and the higher conscious- 
ness be developed through the universal love vibration, more 
quickly than by all the mortification of the body that can be 
practiced. Flesh must be conquered by Spirit, true; but the 
quicker and more perfect way is by forgetting self in loving 
service of others. The bodily control is just as truly achieved by 
this course, and the Buddhic faculties more surely built up, and 
he becomes a sweet magnetic force for real good in the world. 

David, it will be remembered, ate the shew bread in the 
temple, symbolic of the fact that he should henceforth stand 
before God continually as High Priest for the people, an "High 
Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Buddha). Who 
but Christ occupies this place? 

In Amos ix, 9 : " For lo I will command, and I will sift the 
House of Israel" (the fifth root race) "among all nations, like 
as grain is sifted, yet shall not the least kernel fall to the earth" 
(none shall be lost). "All the sinners of My people shall die" 
(be conquered) "by the sword" (by truth) "who say the evil 
shall not overtake us, or meet us" (who deny that an effect fol- 
lows a cause, or the law of just compensation, called by the 
Hindoo "Karma"). 

II. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle" (body) "of 
David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof" (all of 
His vehicles will be connected to the physical again), "and I will 
build it as in the days of old" (He will be in the flesh among us 
as of old), "and they shall possess the remnant of Edom and all 
the nations that are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth 
this. Behold the day shall come, saith Jehovah, that the plow- 
man shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that 
soweth the seed." That is, Christ will again come among us, and 
under this impulse the younger races will catch up with the older 
ones, and all shall dwell together in harmony in the promised 
land of extended consciousness ; that is the birthright of the 

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ARE THESE SOME INCARNATIONS OF OUR BLESSED CHRIST ? 

whole of humanity. And David, the King, shall rule, and shall 
gather the material for the temple, and Solomon, Harmony, 
beloved of God, shall build the Temple of the Living God without 
the sound of a hammer or tool or any such thing. The Temple 
of the Living God, in which each of us may be a stone, bound 
together by the mortar of the universal love of the Christ within, 
that the Christ without has taught us to develop. 

So we see the same dominant note in Jacob, the first Patriarch of 
the race ; in Aaron, the first High Priest for the fifth root race ; in 
Samson, the first great Judge ; and in David, the first great King, 
that we find in the great Master of Compassion that used the body of 
Jesus two thousand years ago. The same great unselfish love, the 
same sweet and gentle compassion, the same unselfish service of 
others, the same unusual wisdom, the same simple, grandly heroic 
character going about among men only to do them good. Truly 
no other character in history can claim these virtues to the same 
degree as this One Great Ego. 

Mr. Leadbeater tells us that he finds "Surya" (our Christ) 
thirty thousand years ago on the akasic records, and at that remote 
period He was even then teaching His doctrine of universal love. 
Two thousand years ago He came to definitely inculcate this teach- 
ing in His religious work, and mankind has slowly learned a very 
small part of the lesson. Some few of us have learned the mean- 
ing of unselfish love in connection with our own ; possibly in some 
few cases we may be able to extend it even to our neighbors, but 
few, very few, know what true universal love means. We have 
learned the lesson of the lower love; it remains for us to get the 
conception of the higher love, the love that animates Him. Oh. 
the magnitude of the conception, the grandeur of the destiny ! 
Truly, as Jeremiah says, "Jacob is the former of all things, and 
Israel" (the regenerate of the race) "is the tribe of His in- 
heritance: Jehovah of Hosts" (the God in the heart of each man) 
"is his name." Jer. 51-19; also Jer. 10-16. 

As we gain this conception of our at-one-ment with all, then 
will the teachings of the dear Elder Brother be understood, and 
we will enter into our inheritance of the promised land of ex- 
tended consciousness, that will include all planes, and the power 
that will be ours by right of the victories won, by right of our 
Sonship with the Eternal Christ our Great Elder Brother, we 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

the many brethern, are all sons of the same Living God, Eternal 
in the heavens. 

He will come again, we are told, "in clouds" (of suspicion) 
"and great glory" (which will be seen only by the psychic, how- 
ever) . Only as we have developed the Christ vibration in our own 
souls, will we be able to recognize Him when He does come, for 
be sure, beloved, in the hour that ye least expect will He appear, 
and unless we have our lamps trimmed and burning we shall not 
see who the Great One is, that passes by. Watch, beloved, for 
the day is at hand, and remember that always before He has 
appeared in the form of some oppressed people. Watch, I say 
unto you, Watch, for the day is at hand. 



138 



THE VISIONS OF EZEKIEL 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE VISIONS OF EZEKIEL. 

As we glance back into the dim mysteries of the past we are 
often startled to see a brilliant star shining against the dark 
background, and almost invariably we find that he who sends 
forth this unusually strong radiance has the reputation of having 
been either a seer, a prophet, or perhaps both. We note that the 
tendency of man in all ages has been to bow in awe before super- 
natural gifts, so much so that the oracles of the different religious 
systems controlled the affairs of the nations. Kings were crowned 
or deposed, nations rose or fell as the oracle dictated, and individ- 
uals frequently were guided in all of their dealings by the 
prophecies of the local oracle. 

We are inclined to indulge in a smile at this, and attribute 
it all to pure superstition, but, if as Occultists tell us, great souls 
came from Venus in such guise to instruct infant humanity at 
one time, then such a state of things is understandable, and it 
helps us to fathom the reverence of the Oriental to this day for 
the dirty holy man that tempts the Westerner to kick him into the 
sea for a much-needed bath. It is a psychological fact, that the 
human mind is incapable of originating anything, and receives 
only what he perceives from experience, or brings through from 
the higher planes, building after the pattern given him in the 
Mount (or the higher planes), and this reverence must be the 
outgrowth of some racial memory. That this memory dealt with 
facts can hardly be denied, for error dies before long. The sacred 
books of the earth have come from the hands of individuals, that, 
in their own age, have impressed the world with their unusual 
psychic powers, and their real unselfish devotion to the welfare 
of humanity, and these messages have provided man with food 
for thought during the ages. To be sure we read of sporadic 
cases of the lower plane medium making a temporary sensation, 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

yet, as in our own time, such manifestations make no permanent 
impression upon the race. The records that have stood the test 
of time, are those that have come from the higher planes, and 
because of their origin they appeal to the higher nature of man in 
a way not to be misunderstood. 

In Ezekiel we have visions given at various times during a 
period of twenty-two years. We note, Chapter I, 1, ''Now it 
came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, and the 
fifth day of the month," that thirty, the spiritual triangle, has 
been added to the quaternary, the physical, and it takes place 
in the fifth race. It will be remembered that the triangle stands 
for the perfect spiritual development, when topping a quaternary, 
or the perfected physical. 

Ezekiel seems to have been one of the captives of Babylon and 
was stationed on the river Chebar. Whether the bondage was a 
real physical experience or a symbolic one, the reader may decide 
for himself. Babylon means "Gate of God," and Chebar means 
"long," so symbolically it may mean that he was resting beside 
the long river of wisdom that flows by the Gate of God. 

He was a priest of Judah, or of the Jews, and one cannot help 
wondering whether he understood what he wrote, or whether, like 
Daniel, he would have exclaimed, "I wrote but I understood not." 

As I turn the pages of these allegories, I feel that there are 
depths of meaning that I am not sounding, strains of music too 
delicate for my ears as yet, and I hand you my conceptions in all 
humility, simplying saying: "It looks so to me." If you explore 
you may open vistas that will rival mine as the diamond outshines 
the quartz crystal in brilliancy ; but such as I have I give you. To 
me it is grand, mysterious, a wonderful testimony of the Master's 
goodness, that I see so much as I do. As all Scripture has seven 
distinct meanings suited to guide man upon each of his seven 
planes of development, it is good for us to use our intuition to 
discover as much as we can of this hidden meaning. In this way 
alone will we develop the most wonderful of the faculties that the 
Trinity has placed in our kingdom. 

Let us begin at the eighth Chapter of Ezekiel. Ezekiel sat in 
his house on the brook, Chebar (long), and the elders of Judah, 
or the most evolved egos of the Jews, were with him. Ezekiel was 
a priest of Judah, but you notice that it is not the priests that are 

140 



THE VISIONS OF EZEKIEL 

with him when he gets into a sufficiently high vibration to get a 
vision of the higher planes, but the most highly evolved of the 
tribes, the elders. He was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem 
(peace) by the Lord Jehovah, who is not only the Lord of the 
Physical Plane but also acts often as Great Initiator. 

The Jews were a people chosen of Lord Jehovah to act as the 
priestly caste, and they are given the care of the oracles of God, 
as St. Paul tells us. They were not Israel, but they were Israel's 
sister, and they had been false to their trust; they had rebelled 
against the Lord Jehovah, they were stiff-necked. 

Now note the vision: "Son of man, lift up thine eyes. And 
I lifted up mine eyes, and behold northward of the altar, an image 
of jealousy." The "North" gate of the Temple, symbolic of the 
physical, controlled by jealousy. In Verse 14 we find the women 
sitting by this same gate "Weeping for Tammuz." Tammuz 
originally a god symbolizing the Second Logos manifesting in the 
flesh, but at this time greatly degraded by phallic conceptions of 
the people, and worshipped by rites of feasting and physical 
gratification, was tempting the motherhood of the people to turn 
from the north gate intended only for the entrance of consecrated 
physical nature, while within the Temple itself stood a huge 
image of jealousy, blocking the way even though they should turn 
that way. Truly a sad picture of the carnal desires of the race. 

"Son of man, seest thou what they do, even the great abomina- 
tions that the House of Israel do?" Remember the House of 
Israel means the fifth root race, not the Jews. The Jews are 
spoken of as Judah. 

Jerusalem means "peace," and the Temple is symbolic of the 
spiritual consciousness of humanity. Take the larger view of 
this vision and you will perceive that it applies full as well to our 
own time as it did to those more ancient days. Do we not find 
jealousy and sensuality shutting people out of the higher planes 
of consciousness? 

"And he brought me to the door of the court, and when I 
looked behold a hole in the wall, and he said, Son of man dig 
now in the wall, and when I had digged in the wall" (wall 
symbolizes the extent of the consciousness of the individual or 
race), "behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in and see the 
wicked abominations that they do here, and I went in and saw all 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

sorts of creeping things, and all sorts of idols of the House of 
Israel, and the elders of the House of Israel." Remember the 
elders of the House of Judah were sitting with him while he was 
seeing this vision, and for that reason may infer that they were 
not of this sort. So in this hidden room (the inner consciousness 
of the race) he saw all of this sensuality and materialism, and 
found that they were led in their depravity by their elders, those 
who should have been their spiritual leaders. Here they all were 
offering incense (worshipping) the idols of their own imagining. 

''Then he said to me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the 
elders of the House of Israel do in the dark, every man in his 
chambers of imagery? for they say there is no Jehovah (Jehovah 
of Hosts, the God in the heart of man). "Jehovah hath deserted 
the Land" (the inner consciousness). 

Have not many of our own people lost the idea of God within 
and of Justice, forgetting the great law of compensation, and up- 
holding the substitutionary nature of the sacrifice of Christ .in 
spite of His Own words, "With what measure ye mete it shall be 
measured to you again," and St. Paul's "Be not deceived, God 
is not mocked ; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap ' ' ? 

Certainly they are worshipping idols of their own imagining. 

"He said, 'Thou shalt see yet other great abominations that 
they do.' And he brought me to the inner Court of the Lord's 
House, and behold, at the door of the Temple of the Lord, between 
the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with 
their backs turned toward the Temple of the Lord" (or the Holy 
of Holies holding the Ark of the Covenant, the type of the per- 
fect man, placed in the west, typical of the destiny of the race, 
toward which the worshipper was supposed to face while at 
prayer). These men had turned their backs upon this ideal, and 
were worshipping the sun towards the east gate, or the sun of the 
intellect, the lower mind. In other words they were materialists. 

"Oh Son of Man, is it a light thing that they commit these 
abominations? They have filled the land with violence" (going 
against nature) "and have turned again to provoke Me to anger" 
(or to force Me to act as though I was angry). "They have put 
the branch in their nose." The ancients often used a forked 
stick to hook in the ring in the nose of a captive to lead him; 
hence the expression, they have put the branch, or the hooked 

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THE VISIONS OF EZEKIEL 

stick to their own nose; they have enslaved themselves, they have 
brought upon themselves the effect of their own actions. The 
Kaballah says, "When it is written 'the anger of Tetragammaton 
will be kindled,' 'My wrath is kindled,' etc., it is understood to 
refer to Microprosopus " (or the god in the heart of man). 

In this case it is Lord Jehovah showing this vision, not God 
Almight} r , but the Great Lord in charge of physical conditions. 
The Lord Jehovah calls for the Destroying Angels, and they come 
from the way of the north, the way of the physical, each with a 
destroying weapon in his hand. Through the physical, or the 
personality, will destruction come. He then sent a scribe ahead 
of these destroyers to put a mark upon the forehead of all who 
sigh and cry over the abominations done in the land, all who 
have the higher ideal, who have developed the higher mind; and 
the command goes forth to utterly destroy all who have not this 
mark upon the forehead. To put it in other words, all who fail 
to develop the higher mind, and the higher ideals, will bring 
destruction upon themselves, as the cart follows the horse. It is 
but the natural effect of the misused energy. The destructive 
angels but symbolize the working out of natural law. "And it 
came to pass that I fell upon my face and cried, and said 'Oh, 
Lord Jehovah' (or Lord of Justice), 'wilt Thou destroy all of the 
residue of Israel in pouring out thy judgment upon the people?' 
And He said, 'The iniquity of the House of Israel is exceeding 
great, and the land is full of blood' (of innocent animals as well 
as people) 'and the city' (world) 'is full of perverse judgment.' 
(That has a distinctly modern sound, and might have been written 
yesterday.) 'For they say Jehovah hath forsaken the land, that 
Jehovah seeth not, I will bring their way upon their heads.' 
(Now note it is their way that is to be brought upon their heads.) 
'As they sow so shall they also reap.' " Yet reading such passages 
as this, Christians of today deny the law of cause and effect, or 
Karma. 

And the man with the inkhorn reported what he had done; 
that he had marked the ones to be saved, had noted the develop- 
ment of the higher mind. And the physical destroyers went forth 
to destroy — note that they are physical destroyers and can destroy 
only the physical. By a natural law by the misuse of the great 
creative force of the universe that is constantly poured out upon 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

man to be by him passed on to others in blessing, in unselfish 
service, the selfish one consumes himself, and his physical body 
pays the penalty before the time it should have lived. 

Occultism explains the way this acts, and the new chance 
given the person by a reincarnation in a new body in which he 
may redeem his past ; but the time will come when the stubbornly 
perverse will be left behind, they will fall asleep not to waken 
for millions of years hence, when the planet again reaches the 
vibration to which they respond. This law is demonstrated in 
the west, or in any new country, on the Physical Plane. When the 
western ranchman turns water upon the cactus land, very often 
a very fine quality of hay will appear, grass that has never been 
seen in that locality in historic times. When the soil is plowed 
the first time, if the land is neglected the next year frequently 
the most luxuriant goldenrod appears. When the proper condi- 
tions are provided the seed that is in the earth germinates, and so 
it is with these egos; they will lie unconscious until the planet 
comes into their vibration again, or until nature forces transport 
them to some other planet where they find conditions favorable 
to their manifestation. This is as near destruction as humanity 
can ever get, and this is purely the result of their own actions, 
the direct effect of the causes that they have set in motion, that 
have lowered their vibrations until they can not respond to the 
higher rates of speed. There is no suffering in this state, simply 
unconsciousness, so the length of time causes no inconvenience to 
the ego. 

High vibrations shatter the vehicles of one who is sensual, 
or selfish, so that when the whole planet vibrates at such a rate 
all such vehicles will simply disintegrate, leaving only the perma- 
nent atoms. This is probably the Day of Judgment spoken of in 
the Bible, and this also is the event referred to in this vision of 
Ezekiel. The six men with weapons mean the experiences of the 
six races which will purge and purify, or kill and disintegrate 
the bodies. 

In Chapter x he continues: "I looked, and, behold, in the 
firmament, over the head of the cherubim there appeared above 
them, as it were, a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the like- 
ness of a throne," evidently a symbol of the Christ, the Bodhis- 
attva; and he tells the man clothed in white linen, significant 

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THE VISIONS OF EZEKIEL 

of purity, to go between the wheels of the cherubim (the rounds 
of humanity), and take coals of fire and scatter them over the 
city; that is, scatter the fire of spirituality generated by humans, 
over the people. The cherubim are symbolic of the four rounds of 
humanity. The great wheels have wheels within wheels; the 
rounds have races within, and the races have sub-races; so here 
are wheels within wheels. The wheels are full of eyes, the eyes 
of humanity, and the cherubim have four faces. As the Hebrew 
made of man a quaternary, so these faces are: cherubim or the 
stage of innocence ; second, man or mind, maturity, realization ; 
third, lion, or strength, courage, development of the higher mind 
or soul; and fourth, eagle, or spiritual aspiration. "And the 
spirit of the Lord rested upon the cherubim, and they went and 
stood by the east gate of the Lord's house." Humanity stands 
at the gate of intellect, while the glory of the Lord rests upon 
them, waiting to enter the Temple of the Living God. And the 
cherubim traveled always straight ahead, the tide of evolution is 
ever onward ever upward, we are told. 

You remember the five and twenty men we found worshipping 
the sun in the east, with their backs toward the west where sat 
the Holy Place containing the Ark of the Covenant, with their 
faces toward the east ; they were worshipping the intellect. Ezekiel 
is told to prophesy against them, and he tells them that because 
of their iniquity the streets of the city, or the planet, will be 
strewn with the slain, "whom ye have laid in the midst of it"; 
their materialistic teachings have caused this lack of spiritual 
development, they teach the people that the time is not yet near 
to build houses (purified vehicles). This teaching has caused a 
great many to be rendered unfit for further progress, and they 
must be left behind as the wave of evolution rolls on. They are 
flesh, or physical, and this city, or planet, is the caldron. But ye 
(who are left behind) shall be brought forth out of it," he says; 
that is, in due time you will be brought to some place where you 
can finish your evolution. 

"Ye have feared the sword" (revealed truth, the law), "the 
sword will I bring upon you," saith the Lord Jehovah. The law 
of cause and effect will bring upon them the things that they 
merit, and they will learn the truth. ' ' And the word of the Lord 
came unto me saying, Son of man, thy brethren, the men of thy 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

redemption, thy kindred, and all of the house of Israel, all of 
them, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem " (the Jews) 
"have said, get you far from the Lord, for unto us is given this 
land for a possession" (we are the chosen people). 

"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Whereas I have 
removed them" (the Israelites, the Aryan race proper) "far off 
among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the 
countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary, for a little while in 
the countries where they are to come." That is, Lord Jehovah 
will be their sanctuary or their protection and guide, for awhile 
in the countries where they are to come, because they will be upon 
the purely Physical Plane. "Therefore thus saith the Lord 
Jehovah, I will gather you from the peoples, and will assemble 
you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I 
will give you the land of Israel." Remember that we learned 
that the land of Israel was the extended consciousness given Jacob 
by his struggle with the angel (his higher self) and becoming 
conqueror with God, or conqueror over matter, the Christ con- 
sciousness. When he had attained this consciousness and had con- 
quered the lower nature, as symbolized by the withered thigh, 
then, and not till then, did he become Israel, and enter into his 
inheritance. ("I will bring thee again to this land.") 

So the prophesy goes on, "And I will give you one heart" 
(they shall enter the universal Christ vibration), "I will put a 
new spirit within them" (the Spirit of Christ) "and I will take 
away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of 
flesh" (the Christ Spirit is one of compassion), "that they may 
walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances to do them, and I 
will be their God, and they shall be My people" (they shall 
recognize the law of cause and effect as an active agency in the 
land) ; "but as for those whose heart walketh after the heart of 
their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their 
way upon their own heads." Is not that a clear statement of 
Karma? Their way upon their own heads. They are not pun- 
ished by an angry God, but by the natural effects of their own 
actions. 

In Chapter xn it says: "The word of the Lord also came 
unto me saying, Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a 
rebellious house" (he was a Jew). "That have eyes to see and 

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THE VISIONS OF EZEKIEL 

see not, and ears to hear and hear not, for they are a rebellious 
house." "Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee thy stuff for 
removing, and remove by day in their sight. It may be that they 
will consider though they are a rebellious people." He was, in 
other words, to go out from them, or seek a higher plane of con- 
sciousness openly, make no secret that these things are possible, 
and telling them why it is desirable, so that they may be led to 
think. "Dig thou through the wall in their sight." (Wall is a 
symbol of the limitation set by the consciousness of the race. ) They 
came to this stage of evolution through the gates of the physical 
(the north), the spiritual (the south), and the intellectual (the 
east). The gates were to enter by, but evidently this temple is 
not an earthly one, for the gates are not to go out by; he is to 
dig out through the walls to take his things out. He must 
transcend the evolution of the rest, taking his things or his con- 
sciousness through the wall he should do so openly or in sight of 
the rest, "but cover thy face that thou see not the land, for I 
have set thee as a sign for the house of Israel. ' ' 

He was to make every endeavor to attain the higher con- 
sciousness, be perfectly frank about the advantages of such a 
course, but he would, after passing through the wall of the natural 
evolution of the race, find himself blind upon the higher plane to 
which he attained, for a time, but he was being pushed in his 
development for an example to the race. In the morning, he 
says (after he had attained) the Lord asked him if Israel had 
asked him ' ' What doest thou ? ' ' And because of their indifference 
to the example set, because of their stiff-neckedness, they shall 
stay upon the Physical Plane and reap the ripe Karma that is 
waiting for them. 

Here is enunciated one of the great occult laws, the law of 
Karma, or of action and reaction, cause and effect; for Karma 
is simply the result of causes that we have ourselves at sometime 
set in motion. Karmic vibrations, like all vibrations, travel in 
circles, reacting on the plane below the one on which they are sent 
forth. Physical Karma is often paid by the death of the body, 
astral or emotional Karma reacts on the Physical Plane, and 
mental Karma on the Emotional Plane. Suppose a man sends 
out a strong malignant vibration or thought form to some one. 
The nature of that thought form is to find the party toward 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

whom it is directed and work its will upon him, then return to 
the sender. If the sender in the meantime gets a realization of 
his iniquity and repents, and enters into a vibration of intense 
aspiration for love, purity, and holiness, then the vibration of 
malignity will return to the place where it left him, because of 
the law; but also because of the law when it gets to where he 
should be according to that vibration, it will not be able to find 
him because he will be vibrating upon the planes above it, and it 
will pass under his feet, while the vibrations of love that he 
throws out will do much to neutralize it. So Ezekiel, here is 
trying to get the people to understand this law, and encourage 
them to rise above the limitations of the race and escape some of 
their race Karma, but as they refuse to accept the lesson, they 
must meet the effect of their past actions upon the Physical Plane, 
and when at last their prince does reach Babylon (the gate of 
God's House), he will be blind and unable to see the glories about 
him. The people shall be scattered among all nations (they shall 
be born many, many times among all nations) before they work 
out this load of Karma in the slow, natural evolutionary way. 

Then he sees the Spirit of the Lord withdraw from the old 
Temple, with its north gate blocked by jealousy and sensuality, 
and its south, or spiritual gate defiled by the worship of the 
intellect and material things; and the Spirit rests upon the 
symbol of humanity. (No longer will the Spirit be confined to 
the external temple, but the heart of man will be its tabernacle.) 
This symbol, the cherubim and the wheels, resting upon the hills 
in the east, the elevations of intellectuality, or as Occultists would 
say, the higher mind. To make it plainer, the Spirit of God 
rested upon humanity as they rested upon the higher Mental Plane 
which is attained by a union of mind with spiritual aspiration; 
this is the plane that gives to man true wisdom. 

In Chapter xlii we find Ezekiel describing another temple; 
now note the measurements, five hundred reeds by five hundred 
reeds, that is, the wall is the limitation set by the development 
of the race, which is the fifth race. This temple wall marks the 
limit of the consciousness of the fifth race after it has been trained 
by the experience of the ages. Humanity, hereafter to be the 
Temple of the Living God. 

He brought me to the gate, even to the gate that looketh to 

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THE VISIONS OF EZEKIEL 

the east. You remember we left the cherubim, or humanity 
resting upon the hills of the east, resting in the higher mind with 
God's Glory overshadowing them. So now the glory of the God 
of Israel (fifth root race) came by way of the east, or the intellect. 
The fifth root race is not to worship in blind superstition, nor 
from compulsion, but from intellectual comprehension. 

And "His voice was like the sound of many waters." The 
truth will flow from many sources. "And the earth shined in 
His Glory. ' ' God 's true wisdom will irradiate everything. ' ' And the 
glory of the Lord entered into the temple" (of the race as a race, 
through the door of the intellect, Chapters 43-4), "and the glory 
of the Lord came into the house" (man) "by way of the east 



"And the Spirit of the Lord took me into the inner court" 
(the heart), "and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house." 
And he said unto me, "Son of man, this is the place of my 
throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in 
the midst of the house of Israel forever." Let them put away 
the dead bodies of their kings (their personalities that have been 
ruling them), and I will dwell in the midst of them forever, if 
they will be ashamed of the things they have done and will keep 
the good law (the law of evolution). Then follows a very elaborate 
description of the temple furnishings, its laws, etc., for which we 
have not the space at this time. 

Chapter xlvii says : ' ' And he brought me back to the door of 
the house" (this Temple of the Living God, the God-man), "and 
behold, waters issued forth from beneath the threshold of the 
house eastward." Waters of wisdom coming from the south, or 
spiritual side of the altar (heart) rushed out of the gate of the 
intellect. Intellect refined by Spirit gave out a flood of wisdom. 
"And he measured one thousand cubits and made me pass through 
the waters, and them came up to the ankles." (He entered the 
stream of wisdom and took the first Initiation.) 

Then he measured one thousand cubits again, and caused him 
to pass through again, and this time the waters of wisdom came 
up to the knees. (He took a second Initiation, or was shown 
what a second Initiation meant). 

"And again he measured one thousand cubits and caused me 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

to pass through, and the waters came to the loins." (Symbolic of 
the third Initiation.) 

"Afterward he measured a thousand and behold a river to 
swim in." (The entire nature is submerged in the waters of 
wisdom, the fourth great Initiation.) Then he shows him how 
this river of wisdom flowing from the Temple of the Living God, 
or the regenerated heart of man, will fructify and sweeten the 
land and sea of humanity. How great trees, or great teachers, 
will grow on the banks; how the great restless sea of humanity in 
evolution will be strengthened and sweetened in their consciousness 
and healed of their iniquities. 

He is then shown that the inheritance of Israel is to be divided 
equally between the tribes, or each man has an equal chance to 
obtain this extended consciousness. Each man to have his portion, 
each man to enter into his inheritance of this higher consciousness, 
and the whole to be offered as an oblation to the Great Supreme 
One. You will notice that the oblation is to measure twenty-five 
thousand reeds, or units (miles), by twenty-five thousand (the 
circumference of the earth is twenty-five thousand miles, so the 
whole planet is meant), and the new city measures forty-five hun- 
dred reeds by forty-five hundred reeds, or the fourth round and 
the fifth root race; so here is set the limits of the consciousness 
to be attained by the fifth root race now in the fourth round. In 
this city (the world) He sees all men dwelling in peace and enjoy- 
ing to the full their inheritance of Divine Consciousness, all 
devoted to the Supreme One, and the name of the city shall be 
4 'God is There," for each man will have found the God within his 
own heart, and will understand the meaning of the words, "The 
cord of the inheritance of Jacob," and "the God of Israel." Each 
man a " Cephas," or "stone," carved without hands, fit to be 
placed in the walls of the Temple of the Living God, and he shall 
"go no more out" as John says. "Behold the Temple of God is 
with man, the first things are passed away, and he that sitteth 
upon the throne saith, 'Behold, I will make all things new.' " 



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JEHOVAH COMMANDED NO BLOODY SACRIFICES 



CHAPTER XIII. 

JEHOVAH COMMANDED NO BLOODY SACRIFICES. 

Let us glance for a moment at one phase of misconception 
caused by the literal reading of what was probably meant in the 
beginning to be taken symbolically only, namely: the command 
to slay innocent animals in religious service. 

The Kabbalah says (page 91, paragraph 7) : "When inferior 
man deseendeth (into this world) like unto the Supernal form 
there are found two spirits. . . . With respect unto the right 
side he hath the holy intelligences. With respect to the left side, 
the animal soul." Here we may assume was the animal that God 
expected to be sacrificed upon the altar. 

Page 316, paragraph 565: "Hence it is written Gen. viii. 
21. And JHVH smelled a sweet savor". It is not written, He 
smells the odor of sacrifice. What is sweet save rest? Assuredly 
the Spirit at rest is the mitigation of the Lords of judgment. 
When therefore it is said that JHVH smelled the odor of rest, 
most certainly the odor of sacrificed victims is not meant, but the 
odor of those mitigations of severity which are referred to the nose 
of Microprosopus (man)." 

"From the nose of Microprosopus proceedeth from one nostril 
smoke and fire, and from the other peace and beneficent Spirits." 

We know from history that the Jews actually slaughtered 
animals in their religious services, using blood as a symbol of the 
sacrifice man should make of his animal nature, but we do not 
know when it was first introduced. That it was permitted to go 
on so long indicates that there must have been some good purpose 
in it, but when one studies deeply into the spirit of the inner 
teaching of the Grand Old Book one seems to be justified in 
assuming that those services must have crept in after the priests 
had forgotten the real Mystery teaching. This seems especially 
probable when we consider that the race has outgrown those ideas 

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AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

and have really come to abhor that form of worship while studying 
the very book that seems to teach it. To be sure we are taught 
in Christian churches that Jesus died once for all, but the Jew 
does not believe that, yet he too in this country usually worships 
without the bloody sacrifice. 

We find the first mention of animal sacrifice in Gen. rv, 2. 
Abel (Spirit) was a shepherd (teacher) and Cain (possessor) was 
a tiller of the ground (he cultivated his physical propensities). 
That is, humanity had come into incarnation with dual natures, 
therefore Cain and Abel are spoken of as twins. The animal 
instincts are so strong that they kill out the ' ' Abel, ' ' or Spirit, when 
it remonstrates. The Spirit would have placed its whole animal 
nature on the altar, and have offered up the first fruits of its 
teaching to others willingly, because that was its nature ; but Cain, 
the physical, would offer up anything else rather than its animal 
nature. Because he chooses the life of animal gratification rather 
than the true life, Lord Jehovah tells him he has brought the 
curse upon him; that is, he will have to suffer from the law of 
cause and effect, and will be a wanderer on the Physical Plane 
until he learns to offer the "reasonable service," the crucifixion 
of the lower self. 

Read literally, Leviticus i seems to make Jehovah the author 
of animal sacrifice; but read symbolically another story is told. 
And may it not be that when first given out the true mean- 
ing was understood, but in the course of ages, because of the 
laxity of the priesthood, this was lost, and gradually the lower 
conception became established? 

This seems to be a reasonable view if we take the testimony 
of Scripture itself. In Jeremiah vn, 21, we read: "Thus saith 
Jehovah of Hosts: For I spake not unto your fathers nor com- 
manded them in the day I brought them out of the land of 
Egypt" (ignorance and sin) "concerning burnt offerings and 
sacrifices." This is certainly a plain statement, and with just 
the same authority that we supposed Leviticus to have. 

23. "But this thing I commanded them saying, hearken unto 
My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people ; and 
walk in all the way I command you that it may be well with you. 
24. But they hearkened not nor inclined their ears, but walked in 
their own councils, and the stubbornness of their evil heart and 

152 



JEHOVAH COMMANDED NO BLOODY SACRIFICES 

went backward and not forward." (They offered up poor inno- 
cent animals instead of their own animal nature.) 25. Since 
the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt I 
have sent all My servants and prophets daily, rising up early 
and sending them" (symbolic), "yet they hearken not unto Me, 
nor incline their ear, but make their neck stiff; they did worse 

than their fathers 30. For the children of Judah have 

done that which was evil in My sight, saith Jehovah; they have 
set their abominations in the house that is called by my name to 
defile it." (Altars upon which poor animals were offered.) 

In Psalms li, 16, we are told, "For thou delightest not in 
sacrifice; else would I give it." (So there must have been a time 
when this was understood. David seems to have understood it.) 
1 ' Thou hast no pleasure in burnt offerings. ' ' 
17. "The sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit, 
A broken and a contrite heart, God, Thou wilt not despise." 
In Hosea vi: "For I desire goodness and not sacrifice; and 
the knowledge of God is more than burnt offerings." 

7. "But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant, they 
have dealt treacherously against Me. ' ' 

8. "Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity; it is stained 
with blood" (of the poor animals slaughtered). 

9. "And as troops of robbers wait for a man so the company of 
priests murder in the way to Shechem." (Shechem was a very 
fertile valley where many herds grazed, watering at Jacob's well.) 

10. "In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing." (The 
blood of animals used as a religious rite.) 

In Hosea vm, 13: "As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, 
they sacrifice flesh and eat it ; but Jehovah accepteth them not; 
now will He remember their iniquity." 

In the answer of the scribe to Jesus as given us by Mark xn, 32, 
"And the scribe said unto Him, Of a truth Teacher, Thou hast 
well said that He is One ; and there is none other but He. 

33. And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the under- 
standing, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as 
himself, is much more than all whole burnt offering and sacrifice. 

34. And when Jesus saw that he answered Him discreetly, He said 
unto him, 'Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.' " 

153 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

In I Sam. xv, 22, we are told that "To obey is better than 
sacrifice. ' ' 

Prov. xxi, 3 : ' ' To do righteousness and justice is more accept- 
able to Jehovah than sacrifice." 

Amos v, 21-22: "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take 
no delight in your solemn assemblies. 23. Yea, though ye offer Me 
your burnt offerings and your meal offerings, I will not accept 
them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 

24. But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness 

as a mighty stream. ' ' 

Isaiah i, 11: "What unto Me is the multitude of your sacri- 
fices? said Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt offerings of 
rams, and the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of 
bullocks or of lambs or of he goats." 

12. "When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required 

this at your hand? 13. "Bring no more vain oblations, 

incense is an abomination to Me." 14. "Your new moons and 
your appointed feasts My soul hateth ; they are a trouble unto Me. 
I am weary of bearing them. 15. When ye spread forth your 
hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; Yea, when ye make many 
prayers I will not hear, your hands are full of blood." 

16. "Wash you make you clean; put away the evil in your 
doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil. 17. Learn to do well, 
seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for 
the widow." 

18. ' ' Come now let us reason together, saith Jehovah ; Though 
your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow." 19. "If ye 
be willing and obedient ye shall eat of the good of the land." 

Jeremiah vi, 20: Your burnt offerings are not acceptable nor 
your sacrifices pleasing unto Me. ' ' 

Malachi h, 4 : " My covenant may be with Levi, saith Jehovah. 
5. My covenant was with him of life and peace" (not death and 
destruction). 

6. "The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness 
was not found in his lips, he walked with me in peace and up- 
rightness and turned many away from iniquity. ' ' 

7. "For the priests' lips should keep knowledge" (they should 
not have lost the knowledge of the Mysteries of their religion so 

154 



JEHOVAH COMMANDED NO BLOODY SACRIFICES 

that such abuses could have crept in), "and they should seek law 
at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of Hosts." 

8. "But ye turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many 
to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, 
saith Jehovah of Hosts." 

Malachi in, 7 : i ' From the days of your fathers ye have turned 
aside from mine ordinances and have not kept them" (but they 
kept up their burnt offerings) . 

8. "Wherein have we robbed thee? The answer is in tithes 
and heave offerings" (the heaving hearts of the men). 

Ezekiel xxxm, 25: "Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the 
Lord Jehovah, Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto 
your idols, and shed blood, and shall ye possess the land ? ' ' 

29. "Then shall they know that I am Jehovah when I have 
made the land a desolation and an astonishment because of all 
their abominations which they have committed." 

Ezekiel xxxvi, 17 : " Son of man, when the house of Israel 
dwelt in their own land, they denied it by their way, and by their 
doings; their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman 
in her impurity. ' ' 

18. "Wherefore I poured out my wrath upon them" (that is, 
let them learn the law of cause and effect), "for the blood which 
they had poured out upon the land because they had defiled it 
with their idols" (or their worship). 

And what is the promise to Israel after the suffering she has 
brought upon herself has purified her? 

Ezekiel xxxvi, 25: "I will sprinkle you with clean waters" 
(sign of purification) "and ye shall be clean; from all of your 
filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. ' ' 

26. "A new heart also will I give you. and a new spirit will 
I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of 
your flesh" (the heart that could kill poor innocent animals), "and 
I will give you a heart of flesh." 27. "And I will put my spirit 

within you." 29. "And I will save you from all your 

uncleanness. ' ' 

Does it not seem probable that the world has had a gross mis- 
conception of the teachings of our Sacred Book? 

In Psalms xl, 6, we read: "Sacrifice and offerings thou hast 
no delight in, my ears hast thou opened. Burnt offering and sin 

155 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

offering hast thou not required. Then I said, Lo I come to do thy 
will, O my God. Yea, thy law is written on my heart." 

The only account we have of Jesus showing anger is in 
John ii, 14, when He drove the money changers from the Temple 
(the people who sold animals and birds for sacrifice). His words 
were: "It is written my house shall be called a house of prayer, 
but ye have made it a den of robbers." Surely these are strong 
words in support of our argument. 

Oh, friends, let us study our Sacred Book and develop the 
intuition that it is designed to develop, and show to suffering 
humanity the God of Love that the inner record reveals. It is 
high time that the white light of truth be thrown upon these books 
so that man may no more hide behind Sacred Writ for authority 
to kill either his brother man or his younger brothers the animals. 



156 



LIGHT THROWN UPON OBSCURE PASSAGES 



CHAPTER XIV. 

LIGHT THROWN UPON OBSCURE PASSAGES. 

It may be well to show in a few words how much light is shed 
upon obscure passages in Scripture by this symbolic reading, light 
that will prevent much skepticism when it becomes generally 
diffused. 

Take, for instance, the statement that Joshua commanded the 
sun to stand still, and she stood. Now every schoolboy knows 
that it is simply an impossibility as read literally. In the light of 
this understanding all becomes luminous. 

The symbol of the Lord Jehovah is the moon. The symbol of 
the Christ is the sun. The word "Joshua" means "Jesus," which 
means the help of Jehovah. As we study the life of Jesus we see 
that His especial work (as it is of many other Masters also) is to 
to assist humanity to conquer their desire natures, and build up 
purified vehicles in which the Christ child can be born. He leads 
them in their great struggle between Spirit and matter. 

Now consider the allegory. Joshua (Jesus) is leading His 
people to battle on the spiritual hillsides. He says to Lord 
Jehovah, "Moon, stand thou still over the valley of Aijalon" 
(field of the animals, man on the animal plane), "and Sun" 
(Christ) "over Gideon" (Mount of Initiation) "only give me 
double time, for this is a fierce struggle." And double time was 
given Him, but more were conquered (slain) by the hailstones 
than by the sword. More were conquered by hard natural experi- 
ences than by the teachings of the truth. 

To this day Jesus still stands on these same hillsides, helping 
us fight our battle against the flesh, and the Lord Jehovah still 
guards and guides the animal man, and still the great Christ 
stands on the Mount of Initiation ready to glorify those who win 
in the struggle and reach up to Him clean hands and a contrite 
heart, wholly consecrated to do the will of the Father. Thus, all 

157 



AN ESOTERIC READING OP BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

through the ages have the Initiations been going on as fast as a 
man could be found who was worthy; thus are they still going 
on, and so will they ever be given so long as a man lives who will 
be helped by their assistance. 

Take the story of Jonah that has given so much trouble to 
teachers because of the evident absurdities of the literal reading of 
the tale. Everyone today knows that a whale cannot swallow a 
man, and every Biblical student knows that the word translated 
whale should have been translated big fish. 

Now we find that one of the local usages of the region in which 
the episode of Jonah is placed is to call the caves washed out by 
the waves along the coast by the same name that was used in the 
account to describe the one that swallowed Jonah. One who has 
traveled extensively along that coast says that these caves often 
have plenty of dry land in the back part, but frequently the 
mouths are covered by the incoming tide or by a storm that blows 
landward. By looking it up you will find that Jesus uses the 
same word when he speaks of the incident ; that is, the same Greek 
word that means fish. He tells us that these caves often are 
inhabited during storms by those who get caught there, just as 
Jonah was, and are obliged to stay there till the storm dies down 
and allows them to escape. 

Now read Jonah and see if the story is not quite probable and 
natural. 

Jonah ii, 2: "Out of the belly of Sheol" (the pit) "cried I, 

3, For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas 

And the flood was round about me; 

And thy waves and thy billows passed over me 

The seaweeds were wrapped about my head. 

I went to the bottoms of the mountains; 

The earth with its bars closed over me forever" (not a fish 
with whalebones). 

"Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, Jehovah 
my God." 

So much for the literal historic basis for the story. Not at all 
improbable. 

Now let us look at it as an allegory of Initiation. 

First, Jonah hears the call of God to go and preach to Ninevah, 
but he was not ready to answer to that call : ' ' Lo, I come to do thy 

158 



LIGHT THROWN UPON OBSCURE PASSAGES 

will, God," so he sails out on the sea of desire. When he 
tries that, he finds his rebellion to God sets up a great commotion 
among the very elements (storm). His companions, when they 
find he is acting in defiance to God, throw him overboard. They 
are gratifying desire, but with no especial rebellion to God in their 
hearts ; they are simply following the dictates of their animal soul, 
with no other thought than the pleasure of the gratification of the 
desire. When they see a case of real defiance against God they are 
afraid, and they cast him overboard. 

He is buried in the sea of desire till he sinks to the depths; 
then, when he cries to God in real penitence, he finds himself in 
the cave of Initiation, Jesus speaks of his being three days and 
three nights in the cave, evidently thinking of His own Initiation 
so soon to be accomplished. 

Jonah is given the Initiation and comes forth ready to do God 's 
will, and he does it. But we are told that after every Initiation 
we are born upon the higher plane a babe, so we are shown the 
baby side of Jonah. He preaches all right, and then pouts because 
God does not kill the people even though they did repent. He 
pouts because the gourd dies, and he pouts when the Lord remon- 
strates with him. He is a babe just born into the kingdom. 

"Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated," says the Scripture; 
and we wonder how that can be. It is cleared up when we read 
in the "Kabbalah" that Edom and Esau stand in Scripture for 
unbalanced forces in man, while Jacob stands for the balanced 
nature. Jacob conquered his lower nature and let his angel, or 
his higher self, conquer. 

The falling of the walls of Jericho is also explained very 
simply when we understand the symbolism. Walls are symbolic 
of the consciousness of a people. Jericho was a stronghold of the 
Atlantean Moon worship. Joshua commanded his people to march 
around the walls each day of the week, blowing upon the ram's 
horn, or exalting the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of 
the world, while following the Ark, the symbol of the Perfect Man. 

The Ark is carried by the priests, while the mass of the people 
follow two thousand cubits behind, or two great races behind. 
Thus they live the Godly life six days in the week, doing it seven 
times as strong on Sabbath, aud the walls of the city fall, or the 
consciousness of the people is conquered. They see the significance 

159 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

of the life really lived, and necromancy is conquered. Rahab the 
harlot, a school of broad wisdom, is saved and protected because of 
the crimson cord of love she threw out of the window, or on the 
upper planes. She is seeking truth from any source, and love is 
the basis of her teachings. 



160 



LIST OF SYMBOLIC AND OBSOLETE MEANINGS 
OF WORDS. 

Abagail, father of joy (masc). 

Abominations, going against God's will. 

Abijah, same as Adonis, my father is Jehovah. 

Adultery, studying with many schools. 

AI, heap of ruins, symbol of the fourth root race. 

Ahinoam, brother of delight (masc). 

Amen, in the light of two countenances, that of God above and that of the God 

within. 
Amraphel, keeper of the Gods. 
Amonite, mountaineer (spiritual). 
Angel, messenger, or the higher self. 

Animals, ass, bear, mule, lion and others mean the animal nature. 
Aaron, lofty teacher. 
Arm, power. 

Armor, equipment of character. 
Armor bearer, the heart. 
Arioch, venerable, King of Ellasar, Oak. 
Arrows, words, teachings ; Shafts have the same meaning. 
Aryeli, Hebrew for Lion; Judah, the lion's whelp. 
Aryan (aryeh), fifth root race. 
Asses, common people, particularly the common people of the fourth root race. 

Babes, inexperienced, those who had taken the first great Initiation. 

Babylon, gate of God, or gate of Initiation, symbolically. 

Baptism, the second great Initiation. 

Bath-Sheba, well of the oath or daughter of the oath, or well of seven. 

Beasts, animal propensities, or cruel people, people on the animal plane. 

Bera, son of evil, king of Sodom. 

Bethel, Temple of God (Ye are the Temples of the Living God). 

Beth-peor, house of the cleft. 

Bethuel, dweller in God. 

Bethlehem, house of bread (spiritual bread). 

Birth, first Initiation. 

Birsha, son of godlessness, King of Gomorah. 

Body, an organized living system, as a church or community. 

Bow, strength. 

Blood, natural descent. Symbolically life, ' ' The blood is the life thereof. ' ' 

Brass, judgment. 

Bread, food on any plane. 

161 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Briars, or thorns, perverse or injurious persons or things. 

Bride, the manifestation of the H, the creative love wisdom manifestation of 
God on the four lower planes. 

Brimstone and fire, great suffering on both Physical and Astral planes, some- 
times destruction. 

Bulls, furious strong foes, or simply strong animal nature. 

Caanan, low-lying land. 

Calf, physical creative energy. 

Cedars, great men. 

Cedars of Lebanon, kings and great men. Top branches, princes and nobility. 
Men of learning, godliness, and strength of character. 

Chaf, worthless persons. 

Chedorloamer, servant of justice. 

Chain, bondage, affliction. 

Christ, Messiah, the anointed one, also a degree of consciousness of the Intui- 
tional Plane. 

Circumcision, purification. 

Cities, races, or the extent of consciousness of a people, especially the wall of 
a city, which defines the extent of the consciousness of the people. 

Clean teeth, hunger. 

Consort, associate with. 

Copper, judgment. 

Cornerstone, the basic truth of a system. 

Cross, the fleshly body or a burden of any kind. 

Crown (Tcether), an honor, or the streams of God's power that play upon man. 

Cup, according to the contents, either blessings or otherwise. 

Damnation, condemnation. 

Darkness, inharmony, sin, ignorance. 

DarJcness of the sun, and moon, losing sight of Christ and Lord Jehovah. 

Daughter, city, community or class in Mystery work. 

David, beloved. 

Day, period of time, light order, harmony. 

Death, separation from God, worldliness, buried in the physical. 

Dew, divine influence. 

Dogs, those outside of the order spoken of, sometimes wicked people. 

Door (open), opportunity. 

Drunken, spiritual ecstasy. 

Dust, mental matter. 

Dust and ashes, human disappointment. 

Eagle, great leader, high aspirations. 

East, intellectuality. 

Earthquake, political or spiritual revolutions. 

Egypt, Physical Plane, black land, land of Cush. 

Elizabeth, the oath of God. 

Ephraim, double fruitfulness. 

162 



LIST OF SYMBOLIC AND OBSOLETE MEANINGS OF WORDS 

Esau, unbalanced force; sometimes the fourth and a half root race. A mon- 
grel race neither the one nor the other. 

Eye, moral or spiritual discernment. 

Eye of God. God has but one eye, because with Him all things are right. He 
has no left side, symbolically. 

Face or countenance of God, the great face. 

Face (little face), God in the heart of man. 

Famine, symbol of lack of truth. 

Fig tree, symbol of creative force. 

Fire and brimstone, spiritual and physical forces. 

Fire, spirituality. 

Flood, overwhelmed. 

Fornication, studying foreign systems of thought. 

Four, complete physical, foundation. 

Fox, quiet unassuming teacher. 

Fruit, results of actions. 

Furnace, severe testing afflictions. 

Galilee, circuit. 

Garments, sometimes bodies, sometimes arguments. 

Gates, seats of power. 

Gates of death, peril of life. 

Girdle, tightened, preparation for energetic action. Transferred to another 

symbol of transferred authority. 
Girgashites, dwellers on clay. 
Goats, perverse people of the Aryan stock. 
God's face, mercy. Face of the Son, wisdom and love. Face of the earth, 

understanding. 
God swore, means that God lifted His hand with the sign of power. 
Gold, God's wisdom, and righteousness. 
Gommorah, submerged. 
Grass, weak humanity. 
Growth, increase in righteousness. 

H. Eevah, translated Eve, Second Person of the Trinity. No matter upon 

which plane it manifests. 
Hail, hardened material forces. 
Hagar, bondage of ignorance. 
Hair, streams of God's creative energy. 
Hand, power; right hand, might, place of honor. 
Harlot, school of broad wisdom. 
Harvest, season of privilege. 
Heaven, state of consciousness of the Intuitional Plane. Kingdom of Heaven 

means sometimes the Great White Lodge. 
Hebrews, those who have crossed over (into the new race). 
Heifer, physical creative activity. 
Hell, from root meaning to hide, hidden unseen, symbolically depths of ruin 

or despair. 

163 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Hittites, low people. 

Herod, symbol of material power. 

Horn, power, wisdom. 

Horse, conquering might. 

House, body. 

Hunger, intense desire. 

IHVH, Jehovah, the Trinity of manifestations of the Supreme; first, on the 
higher planes; second, Lord Jehovah, the Great One who looks after the 
material welfare of the race on the Physical Plane; third, Jehovah of 
Hosts, the God in the heart of every man. 

Incense, prayer. Burnt incense, Spiritual prayer. 

Ish, man; Ishah, woman or the completion of man, or his body. 

Israel, Aryan race, not the Jews. Also the father of the race. 

Israel, the prince that prevails with God. 

Iron, oppression. 

Jacob, supplanter, Aryan race, as well as the founder of the race. 
Jebusites, threshers. 
John, gift of Jehovah, teacher. 
Joseph, increased consciousness. 
Jerusalem, peace. 
Jesus, help of Jehovah. 

Judah, praised, celebrated, Jews, the sister of Israel. 

Jehovah, see IHVH. Lord Jehovah is used in the same sense as the Hindoo 
Vaivasvatta. 

Kadmonites, children of the east, or intellectuality. 

Keys, authority, knowledge. 

Kenites, smiths. 

Kenizites, hunters. 

Kine, animal nature, sometimes wealthy proud rulers. 

Lab an, White Brother. 
Lamb, Christ, humility, gentleness. 

Lambs, younger members of Mystery work; young Initiates. 
Lamp or torch, illumination or illuminator, teacher; sometimes royal succession. 
Lawyer, expounder of Mosaic Law. 
Leaven, any diffusive influence. 
Leaves, outward show. 
Let, hinder or prevent. 

Lewdness, wickedness of any kind; villainy. 
Libertine, child of a freed slave. 
Life, union of the soul with God. 

Light, order, harmony with God's law, knowledge, purity. 

Lion, strength, boldness; sometimes the animal nature, sometimes an astro- 
logical sign. 
List, desire, will, like. 
Locusts, multitudinous wasting enemies. 
Loins girded, ready for action. 

164 



LIST OF SYMBOLIC AND OBSOLETE MEANINGS OF WORDS 

Mdia, mother Mary, (suggests Sanscrit, Maya, illusion). 

Manassah, mental giants. 

Manna, food from above. 

Manu, father of a race, over lord of the Physical Plane. 

Mansions, resting places. 

Manger of stable, inmost recesses of man's heart; the inner place in his animal 
nature. 

Marriage, union with God. 

Meat, food of any kind. 

Meat offerings consisted of only flour and oil. 

Mess, dish of any kind of food. 

Michael, like unto God. 

Milk, weak food; elementary truths. 

Mother, H, the love wisdom creative outflow of the higher planes, the mani- 
festation of the Second Person of the Trinity. 

Mountain, Mount of Initiation, or high spiritual elevation. 

Myrtle, earth. 

Nazareth, guarded one, a seat of Mystery work. 

Naked, without possessions, or without bodies, without experience. 

Nebo, Mount of Initiation in Mysteries of Nebo. 

Night, darkness of mind, inharmony with God. 

Numbers: 1, God; 2, positive and negative, symbol of the Second Person of 
the Trinity; 3, Trinity as a whole; 4, physical perfection, foundation; 
5, symbol of harvest; 6, balanced Karma; 7, perfection, sacred number of 
completion; 8, double quaternary symbol of completion; 9, triune man, com- 
plete on the three planes; 10, man complete in his kingdom or aura. 

666 Nero, Caesar written in Hebrew characters. 

Oaks, strong teachers. 

Olive, regenerate man, or simply man. 

Olive fields, communities of men; wild olive, unregenerate man. 

Over against, east of. 

Palm tree, fruitfulness of character; sometimes air. 

Passover, the turning point in man's life, when he definitely turns to God, and 
sprinkles the life (blood) of the Christ upon the lintels of the doorposts 
of his heart. 

Pestilence, purification. 

Perizites, important people. 

Pillar, support of a structure. 

Pomegranate, fruitfulness. 

Poison, falsehood, malignity. 

Prevent, go before, precede. 

Pharaoh, sometimes the great hierophant of Mystery work, sometimes the sym- 
bol of material power. 

Prophecy, expounding. 

Provoke, stimulate to action. 

Rachel, God's productive pupil. 
Rahab, broad freedom. 

165 



AN ESOTERIC READING OF BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM 

Bain, divine influence, blessings, pure instruction. 

Bainbow, covenant, universal covenant. 

Bavening, greedy, rapacious. 

Bed, sometimes war, sometimes humanity. 

Bed Sea, properly rendered means sea of things. 

Beins, emotions, affections. 

Bephaim, giants. 

Biver, wisdom, flood, invasion, or submersion. Two rivers, or plane of two 

rivers, means the Physical and Astral planes. 
BocTc, Master of Compassion. Stone means the same. 
Bod, thyrsus, rod of Initiation into the Mysteries. 

Sarah, free princess. 

Sarai, my princess, bound. 

Salt, purity, preservative, sound doctrines, good character. 

Sea, people, Desire Plane, sometimes Mystery, depth. 

Seal, security, perfection, exclusive claim. 

Serpent, wisdom; brazen serpent, true wisdom; black serpent, black art; fiery 

serpents, lust, or improper use of creative wisdom. 
Shadow, body or astral body, sometimes grief. 
Silver, regeneration. 
Seed, those of the faith. 

Sheep, Aryan people. "The sheep are my people. " 
Shechinah, divine downpouring. 
Shemeber, highflier. 

Shepherds, teachers, leaders. Shepherds at night, teachers on the Astral Planet. 
Shield, defense. 
Shinar, land of two rivers. 
Shinab, earthly splendor. 
Silence, ruin. 
Sodom, burning. 
Sores, sins, also ulcers. 
Stars, egos, sometimes rulers. 
Stone, Master of Compassion. 
Straight, narrow. 
Straightly, strictly. 
Straightness, scarcity of food. 
Sword, truth. 
Sun, Christ. 

Tabernacle, body of the soul; sometimes Mystery work, sometimes place of 

worship. 
Teeth, grinding, cruelty and greed; clean teeth, hunger. 
Temple, the abode of God; man's heart. 
Thousand, one great race; 1,000 cubits, one great race; hundred cubits, one 

subrace. 
Threshing, purifying. 

Throne, peaceful government, lofty position, one of power. 
Thunders, declaration of God's will. 

166 



LIST OF SYMBOLIC AND OBSOLETE MEANINGS OF WORDS 

Tidal, Great Son King of nations. 

Tongues, languages. 

Towers, defenses. 

Translate, remove. 

Trees, teachers, men in authority; green trees, teachers of black art. 

Turtle doves, IH Spirit. 

Trow, think. 

Vine, Christ; o ranches, the people who depend upon Him. 

Vineyard, spiritual retreat or exercises of a spiritual nature; fruit of the vine, 

spiritual impulses. 
Viper, dangerous foe. 
Virgin, pure of either sex; virgin matter, matter that has been unproductive. 

Walking with, being one with. 

Wall, the extent of a people's consciousness. 

Ware, aware. 

Washing, purifying spiritually. 

Water, wisdom. 

Wax, grow, become. 

Wealth, prosperity. 

Well, symbol of deep wisdom. 

Wheat, rich blessings, holy people. 

White, purity, truth. 

Wilderness, ignorance, adversity. 

Willow, water. 

Wind, spirit; sometimes symbolic of destructive forces. 

Wine, spirituality. Wine, corn and oil abundance of spirituality, physical 

strength and wisdom. Wine press, treading it, judgments to develop 

spirituality. 
Wings, protection, speed. 

Winnowing, driving away the wicked, purifying. 
Wolf, faithless pastor or teacher. 
Woman, the completion of man. 
Woman, the creative love wisdom outflow of the supreme in manifestation. 

Sometimes it is the vehicles of man, the bodies he wears; sometimes of a 

church; sometimes a Mystery lodge; sometimes a community or city. 
Wrath, accomplished Karma. 

Yoke, union, or restraint. 

Young pigeon, VH, creative energy of lower planes. 



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